Damaged Goods
by Miss Herondale-Eaton
Summary: Clary is cynical about love after her dead father poisoned her mind throughout her 'childhood'. Nobody knows much of Clary's past, she's a mystery. Can a certain blonde solve the puzzle that is Clarissa Fairchild? Will Clary ever love? Will anyone be there for her when her past catches up with her? Follows the drama of high school. Mentions of child abuse & other dark themes. AU/AH
1. Love is an Illusion

_**DAMAGED GOODS – CHAPTER 1 – Love is an illusion**_

**Hi, I know Author's notes are extremely annoying but this should be the only one for this FanFiction. Basically, I just wanted to say that this FanFiction will be updated roughly every 3-5 days. Please let us know what you think of it, all comments are welcome. Thanks a lot and I hope you enjoy it.**

_**CLARY POV:**_  
First day of a new school. Oooooh, I am so excited. Note the sarcasm. Today I started at Raziel High School for the gifted and talented. The only reason I got into this school was because my step-father, Luke, is the head master. Don't be mistaken, I am in no way gifted or talented. Believe me, I am really nothing special. I couldn't stay at my old school, St. Xavier's because of my ass of an ex-boyfriend, Sebastian. I'm not some stupid little girl who can't handle her exes, because I really can. It's just that after what Sebastian said to me I really could not face the idea of seeing him every single day for the next year and a half.

*FLASHBACK*

"Hey babe." Sebastian greeted me with a peck on the cheek and slung his arm around my shoulder.

"Hi Seb."

We make our way over to an empty table where we sat ourselves down. I looked at Sebastian and saw in his eyes something that I had never seen before. He was nervous. Sebastian Verlac was _never _nervous. I knew he was going to break up with me and for some reason I didn't care. The only reason I was with him was because he was extremely hot, mysterious and popular. Exactly my type. We had been together for 6 months and to be honest I wasn't even that attached to him. To love is to destroy and all. Thanks for the great advice _daddy._

When he finally spoke, I was completely shocked by what he had said: "I love you."

Without a moment's hesitation I spoke with complete confidence and belief in what I was saying.

"You do not love me, Sebastian."

"But I do. I love you, Clary and I always will." He said with a hint of desperation in his voice.

"Love is just an illusion. Love is not real, it's all just fairy tales." I have always believed this. Love is an idea people have that they hold on to so they have hope but really all that happens when someone thinks that they love someone is chaos. To love is to destroy and to be loved is to be the one destroyed. Dear daddy's words of wisdom. And to be honest, I'm scared of love. I've never said it to anyone because I'm terrified that I'll get hurt and I'm already broken. I don't want to be shattered.

"If that's how you feel then, Clarissa," Sebastian spat my name. "maybe we should break this" he gestured between us "off."

I knew he was pissed because he never uses my full name.

"Yeah, we should." I responded, very sure of myself. I turned around but Sebastian grabbed my wrist painfully tight (it was sure to leave a bruise) and spun me around.

"Do you know what, Clarissa?" he looked me in the eyes and all I could see in them now was fury.

"You deserve everything that your father did to you. All the pain he caused you was with good reason. You're a heartless bitch, so go burn in hell with your father!"

With that he stalked off into the school building while I replayed the events in my head. He knew about my father. How did he find out about what that bastard did to me? I certainly did not tell him. I started running with no destination in mind. I just knew that I needed to get out of here. Tears were threatening to spill but my deceased father's voice in my head stopped me.

"Crying is a sign of weakness, Clarissa. Morgensterns are not weak. You are my daughter and you will not cry!"

With that in my mind, I kept running and running until my legs finally gave way underneath me.

*END OF FLASHBACK*

Shaking the thought out of my head I glanced towards the clock that was reading 5AM. I swiftly rolled out of bed and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. Ever since I was six years old, this had been my daily routine: wake up at 5AM. Go on an hour and a half run. Get ready for the day. Go do whatever crap I have to do that day. The earliest memory I have is of me running the fastest my little legs would physically allow me and my father in the background telling me how I'm no good and that I'm too slow. For normal people this wouldn't be a nice memory. But me being, well me, I actually smile at the memory. I think I need a mental health examination!

Like it was second nature, I pulled on an emerald green sports bra and black spandex. Continuing to ready myself for my daily run, I pulled my hair up into a high pony-tail so it was out of my face and then grabbed my iPod which was resting on my bedside table. Quietly, I headed out of my bedroom and down the stairs to where Mum, Luke and Jon were asleep. Like I do every morning, I tip-toed down the corridor in an attempt to not wake anybody up. As I reached the end of the hallway I opened up the large window that led to an outside spiral staircase a little bit and slipped through. I then put my earphones in and blasted 'Run for your life' by the Fray and ran down the stairs to the ground and started my daily route. To clear my mind of all my anxiety about the coming day, I shake my head to clear my mind and focus on the music exploding in my ears, making my legs go faster and the never fading pounding of my cold, cold heart.

**LINE BREAK**

I arrive back home panting and sweating at 6:30AM precisely. I find this feeling exhilarating and it makes me feel alive and like there is electricity coursing through my veins making me just want to keep moving. I walk through the front door to be greeted with the smell of pancakes. I bound into the kitchen with a huge grin on my face knowing exactly what the smell is. Coconut pancakes. Heaven on a plate. My mother serves me a plate with 6 pancakes on!

"Mum you are officially the best mother in the world! Thank you so so so much. COCONUT PANCAKES ARE A-MA-ZING!" I sing the last bit loudly up the stairs and Jon, my brother comes racing down.

"I smell pancakes." He states then smirks at me. "You excited for your first day of school, Clare-Bear?

"No." I respond rather gruffly.

"Aww, but you'll finally meet my friends. They don't even know I have a sister! Well Jace does."

I smile at him but say "I am not meeting your friends!"

"Why not?" he asks a bit defensively.

"Because I'm fine by myself." I inform him. He frowns at this and we lock eyes. Green meeting green.

"Clary, are you going to at least try to make some friends?"

"No." I state simply.

"Why not?" he persists.

"Because." I snap at him. I don't like being like this with Jon but he's just too damn stubborn, almost as bad as me. He doesn't understand how I really would rather be all alone in this world and not have to rely on anyone. Or have anyone to rely on me, because in the end all I will do is disappoint them.

Noticing my inner battle, his eyes soften a bit before he speaks, "You know you can talk to me right? I'm here for you. I know you don't trust easily because of y'know – dad. But please just let someone- anyone- in. I love you, Clare-bear." I visibly stiffen at this but if he does notice he just decided to carry on. "You don't have to be strong all the time, Clare. We all have our moments of weakness and the people we love are always there for us. So please Clary, if you ever need anything, I will always be here for you."

"I'm content with being alone but thank-you, Jon." he smiles sadly at me and nods solemnly before taking a seat by the breakfast bar where there is a plate of coconut pancakes awaiting him. Jon knows me better than anyone, if I do need to talk, I'll go to him. But, I never had a need to talk because if I spoke about whatever was usually bothering me, it was like I was reliving it. And I couldn't bear to relive a lot of things that happened in my past. Also, that would be me admitting to help and I don't want or need any help, I'm fine by myself. Just like I always have been. Jonathan doesn't understand why I don't let anyone in. after Valentine first died, I still had all the bruises when I first saw my mother and brother so I just told then that Valentine hit me. If all he did was hit me that would have been a dream come true. Of course, I would never tell anyone exactly what happened in the first 10 years of my life, me and my dead father are the only people who truly know what happened. And I intend for it to stay that way. Whenever I am thinking about my past, I always seem to lose my appetite. So, deciding that I am now not in need of any coconut pancakes, I run up to my loft.

Between the two of them, with my mother being a famous artist and Luke being a head-master, they earn quite a lot of money. Our house is rather large but we don't really like to flaunt it. My loft is basically the top floor of our house. Knowing that I liked my independence, Luke made the top floor mine. It's the only place where I can be myself and show my emotions. It consists of my bedroom, bathroom, art studio, music room and my recording studio. Nobody really comes up here except me. It's my own little safe haven. My sanctuary.

Opening the door to my bedroom, I take a look at the clock I see its 6:50. So I have 1 hour before I need to leave. It only takes me about 20 minutes to get ready so I could go train for a bit...

Yes. I'm more frustrated than usual, what with starting a new school and all, so I really need to go punch something and it would be better if it wasn't a living human. Mum always gets pissed when I do that. Most girls just eat chocolate when they are feeling like this, don't they. Me? No, I resort to violence. Don't blame me though, it's the way I was raised. Punch or be punched. That's my motto.

I make my way down to the basement. AKA the training room and shut the metal sound-proofed dead bolt door. I connect my phone to the Bluetooth speakers and put 'the Fighter' by The Fray on. If you haven't noticed, I like The Fray. I would say I 'loved' them; but as you know I don't do love. I start on the punching bag and sing along to some of the lyrics as the song went on.

"The fighter wrapped his gloves

The fighter said I know I know I know

Just this one last time

I swear you'll still be mine"

Each punch that I delivered had so much power behind it that it could probably knock-out a full grown man! Stopping abruptly, I paused the music and headed to the top floor, into my bathroom to have a much needed shower. Stripping off my bra and spandex, I stepped into the scalding hot water. Immediately my tense muscle relax under the blissfully warm water that was cascading down her back. For some reason I always have to have the water on a burning heat in the shower. Don't ask me why though, I have absolutely no idea why the temperature of the water has to be 100⁰F.

I proceed to massage strawberry shampoo into my scalp before doing the same with conditioner. As the water grows too cold for my liking, I cautiously step out and seize the plush green towel that was on the dryer. Whilst wrapping the towel around me, I reached for my hairbrush that was by the side of the sink and started to pull it through my tangled mess of a hair. None too gently, might I add.

So, I guess this is the part where I describe the stunningly attractive beauty that is me. In my head my voice is literally dripping with sarcasm. I swear that I have an extra organ or something in my body that produces sarcasm! I have an exceptional talent in the art of sarcasm. In fact, last year I nearly won the best in house award for it but unfortunately our deceased cat was awarded with it. Damn you, snuffles. Damn you. I view sarcasm as one of my more endearing and lady like traits. It's better than my other very endearing trait – snorting. Anyways, back to our original subject, how I look – like a leprechaun. At least that's what I think. For starters, I'm a midget. I am sixteen years old and stand little over 5, 6". Yeah, I still have to climb onto the kitchen surface to get the secret chocolate box. See how easy life is for you now? My crimson red hairs that is a few shades darker than my mum's is fairly long and falls to the middle of my back. I have a relatively skinny figure and white porcelain skin. Oh, and my eyes are dull lifeless green colour that I think is horrible, however my mother thinks differently. Mum says that, and I quote: "That I have wonderful gleaming green emeralds as eyes that the angel himself picked out." If you ask me, that's a little bit creepy – some weird ass angel depositing two emerald jewels into an empty eye socket. Weird. So that's me.

Going for the badass look today, I pull on a tight dark red tank top that matches my hair, worn black jeans, heavy duty black combat boots and to add that little more attitude to it, my favourite leather jacket. Just to top it all off, I added a little bit of eye-liner to 'make my eyes pop' as mother says. I don't really wear make-up much but if I am to make the right impression today I have to look the part – the badass part.

Continuing the badass theme, I will be taking my black Ducati to ride to school this morning. I plan to make a grand entrance and for everyone to swoon over me and bow at my feet and possibly massage them for me. I'm pulled out of my thoughts of being pampered by hot teenage servants when I see a hand clicking insistently right in front of my face.

"WTF, Jonathan?" I demanded.

"I tried talking to you but you were in Clare-Bear-Ville and I just came up here to tell you that if you don't leave," He looked at his watch then back at me "in… 5 minutes ago then you are going to be late." Jon smirked down at me, highly amused by my very pissed off expression.

"I am finding it so hard not to punch you RIGHT NOW!" I said through gritted teeth.

Jon just laughed. "I'll see you later. Mum and Dad want to talk to me about something so I'll be coming in later. Be a good little girl." I flipped him off and raced to the front door and into the garage to get to my bike. I stowed my backpack underneath the seat where I had just taken my helmet from and jumped on my Ducati 1199, my baby. Sitting on the seat, I fastened my helmet and sped off like I was the Flash. I must have been above the speed limit by at least 20 all the way to Raziel High School.

Being the new person, all eyes were on me as I parked my Ducati. Exactly what I need, unwanted attention. Ugh! Stupid nosey good-for-nothing high schoolers! With everybody still watching me, I headed into the school and followed the directions that Jonathan gave me to get to the office. I look up and see that the directions were in fact correct. If I was Jon, I would have gave me directions to the boys' changing rooms so he could completely humiliate me on my first day. He must really love me! I open the door to the office and walk over to the woman at the desk. She looks middle-aged and has short greying hair. She hears movement and looks up to see me.

"Hello dear, could I help you?" She asks me like I'm a five year old. I am restraining myself from rolling my eyes. So, I just respond in a sickly sweet voice.

"Yes please, you see I'm new here so I need to collect my schedule."

"Ok. What's your name?" She asks.

"Clarissa Fairchild."

She looks back to the computer screen before typing my name in and clicking on something. "Ah, here it is. Let me just print it off for you, Clarissa."

"Clary." I correct her.

"Sorry?"

"Just Clary, please." I tell her. She nods then wheels over to the printer because she has one of those cool spinny wheely chairs. If I had one of them I'd be going out in the corridors and running down them on that chair. This is just my twelve year old self coming out here. I'm snapped out of my reverie about spinning chairs when the secretary comes over to hand me my schedule and locker combination. I thank her and walk out the door. My schedule is pretty average. I have all the same classes as what I had at St. Xavier's but now I have an extra Gym lesson. Yes!

1: Maths - Mr. Starkweather, Room 203  
2: Art – Miss Gray, Room 73  
3: Spanish – Mrs. Penhallow, Room 46  
4: Gym – Mr. Carstairs, Track  
LUNCH  
5: Music – Mrs. Blackthorn, Room 17  
6: Extra Gym – Mr. Carstairs, Hall

I make my way to my locker and try to open it. After six failed attempts, I am getting quite pissed. Taking a deep breath I put the combination in once more and when it doesn't open, I punch the locker very forcefully causing a few people who are passing by to give me weird looks.

"Hey, Red. What did that locker ever do to you?"

I spin around to see a very, no extremely, good looking golden-blonde haired boy looking at me with an amused expression and a smirk that I really want to slap off of his annoyingly smug face.


	2. You gave me a STD!

**_DAMAGED GOODS – CHAPTER 2 – You gave me a STD!_**

_**JACE POV:**_  
"Jace Lightwood, I swear on the angel that if you do not open this door within the next minute I will personally castrate you and then I will cook your balls and serve them on a silver platter to you and shove them down your stupid ass throat!"

This is what I wake up to: the sound of my dear sister Isabelle screaming at me through my door. It's not the thought of me losing my balls that motivates me to get up but the thought of eating anything that my sister cooks. It would be a death sentence. She is a lovely young lady, isn't she? Lady? I scoff. As slowly as I can, I climb out of bed, stretch my muscles and then stagger over to my door where Izzy will be waiting to pounce on me for some unknown reason. Knowing that she is probably leaning on the door, I quickly pull it open. I was correct! She stumbles in to my room and mutters something under her breath. Isabelle then throws me the most deadly glare. I think I now understand the phrase 'if looks could kill'. I smirk at her and she sticks her tongue out at me.

"You had eight seconds left before I was going to very happily going to detach you of your balls." Izzy said to me in a completely serious voice. I guess you could say she is a bit of a nut case, I do. Sometimes I can't tell if she is kidding or not. Now is one of those very unnerving times! She continues after taking a deep breath to stop herself from lashing out at me, "You got lucky this time, Jace."

I smirk and then say, "Actually, I always get lucky." I wink at her and she just scoffs. "So dear sister, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

She looks at me like I am an alien. Well, I know I am gorgeous, god-like even but an alien? Most definitely not.

"Seriously? Jace are you actually that thick? Do you have the memory of a goldfish or something? GOD!" She throws her hands up in exasperation.

"Did I sleep with one of your friends or something? I mean there was this girl from Pandemonium. She was called Casey. No, Cameron. Or was it Annabelle?"

"You have got to be kidding me. Do you really not remember?" She looks at my blank face and sees that I have absolutely no idea about what the hell she's getting at. "You're impossible, Jace!"

"I know. This amazingness is not possible, you don't have to remind me. I'm pretty sure that I'm half angel, because I do look like one." I say matter of factly. She ignores my comment.

"Do you not remember that today a certain female Garroway that is in our year is starting at our school? I want to get to school early so I can meet her. We are leaving in fifteen minutes."

Before she can leave, I grab her arm and tell her, with my usual smirk on my face: "By the way, so I could actually sleep in today I put your clock back half an hour. We only have twenty-five minutes until starts."

She is about to go crazy ape on me so I just smile and push her out of my room. I then hear her scream something that sounded a lot like ducking mastered.

I told Izzy yesterday that Jon's sister was transferring to Raziel High. None of our friends, except me of course, even knew that Jonathan had a sister. He hadn't told our friends because, and I quote Jon 'she is very shy and doesn't like to meet new people and I think that if she met Magnus and his personality that is the size of Jupiter, she would probably have a heart attack'. He had told me as I was his best friend. However, I have never actually met her. Also, I don't have a clue about what she looks like as Jon hasn't said anything about her and they have no pictures of her around their house. I think it's also weird that I've never seen her round their house as I practically live there. She spends most of her time on her floor. I've never been up there, Jon said that if I did go up there that his sister would go all ninja on me, whatever that means. Clarissa Garroway was a mystery. I do like a good mystery. I would be lying if I said that I was not curious about Jon's sister.

Quickly, I pull on a tight white top and old jeans and head out to our car, a convertible Ferrari. Yeah, we have quite a lot of money. In the driver's seat there is a very pissed off Isabelle waiting for me. I climb in to the passenger seat and dump my bag on the back seat and we head off to school. It only takes us ten minutes to get to school so when we arrive, we should have about ten minutes or so to grab our books before we need to go to our lessons.

After a couple of minutes in the car, I realised that someone was missing – our brother Alec wasn't with us.

"Hey, Iz?" She makes a noise to indicate the she had heard me, I guess she was still pissed at me. "Where's Alec? He's not in the car."

"Really?" My sister's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "I hadn't noticed." Yep, definitely still pissed. "Do you know what, Jace? You're a very observant person, you didn't realise that your own brother wasn't with us, that we were missing someone. Top of the class, well done." I glare at her with all that I have and even though her focus is on the road, I can tell that she saw me because a large grin forms on her face. "Anyway, to answer your question though, young Alexander was staying with Magnus last night." She turns to me and wiggles her eyebrows suggestively. I give her childishness a short laugh, I guess she is in a bit of a better mood now. Although, I really don't see what I did wrong, I just wanted to sleep for once, she is probably PMS-ing. Magnus is Alec's immensely glittery and extravagant bisexual boyfriend. Those two are polar opposites but they are exceedingly good together. I'm just happy to finally see my brother happy and in a relationship with someone that he really loves. They've been together for about seven months when Alec admitted his feelings for Magnus, which were requited, after he came out to our parents, Robert & Maryse. They accepted it but weren't exactly too happy with his 'life decisions' as they call it. Well, I don't sound like a thirteen year old gossiping cheerleader, do I?

When we pulled in to the school parking lot and drove over to our space. It wasn't really our space but with my popularity, everybody saved this space because they knew it was ours. Nobody ever parked in it. Ever. But as we came to our space we were both quite surprised to see that there was a motorcycle parked in our spot. Whoever the bike belonged to had good taste. It looked like a Ducati 1199. It was completely black and on the back it had some kind of symbol that looked like a ram's horn etched into the paintwork. The bike was probably the best kept I'd ever seen, either it was new or this was someone's prized possession. I have always wanted a motorcycle, but whenever I have asked Maryse or Robert, they have both had the same answer: HELL NO! I was extremely jealous of whoever owned this wonderful vehicle.

"Jace, there is a motorcycle in our space." Izzy said incredulously.

"No shit, Sherlock." I replied.

"Ha-ha, Jace. Nobody ever parks in our space. It's ours." She said in disbelief.

I didn't see what the big deal was, it is just a parking space, which is all it is. It isn't like it has ever really been ours anyway. "Iz, really? It is not that big of a deal. Just park in the next space, there. That's close enough to our spot isn't it?" She huffed but drove into that space anyway.

I grabbed my bag and started walking to the locker whilst Isabelle was putting the hood on the car up. "See you at lunch, Izzy." I shouted behind me.

As I near my locker, I hear someone cursing under their breath and a locker rattling, probably just a freshman. Halfway through the school year and they still can't open their lockers. It is quite funny. Turning the corner I see a girl with vibrant crimson red hair attempting to open her locker. I don't recognise her. She's quite short and that's about all I can make out about her as her back is facing me while she is trying to open the locker. I watch amusedly as she continues to try and open it, getting more and more flustered with each failed attempt. Now extremely pissed with the locker, the girl punches the slab of metal with an amazing amount force that I am surprised her hand isn't broken. Wow, this girl can pack a punch. She doesn't even look in pain from that punch, even I would be clutching my hand right now if I was in her position. She is getting quite a few dirty looks from people passing by for disturbing their peace. Sighing, she repeatedly bangs her head on the locker. This is when I decide to make my wonderful self known.

"Hey, Red. What did that locker ever do to you?" I ask her smugly with a smirk playing at my lips.

She spins around and looks me in the eyes. Wow. She is pretty. Like really really pretty. But what makes her even more amazing is her eyes. They are an extraordinary emerald green colour, they are beautiful. She is… beautiful. The girl is wearing black jeans, combat boots and a tight red tank top, this really shows off her curves. And to top it all off she has a leather biker jacket. Her whole look screams 'PISS ME OFF AND YOU WILL REGRET IT!'

"Piss off." She says. Feisty, I like it.

"Nice to meet you too, Red." I say sarcastically and she just rolls her eyes, not fazed by my sarcasm at all. "You a freshman? You look-"

She cuts me off and angrily says, "If you finish that sentence with little, small, young or anything like that, I swear on the angel that I will kick your ass so hard that you won't be able to walk for the next month." I am pretty sure that this is not an empty threat so I just swallow and nod. Am I really scared of her, she is too small to do any harm to me. Too small to harm anyone in fact!

"So Red, are you a freshman?" I ask her.

"Junior." She mumbles. She does not look like a junior, she doesn't even look like she could be a freshman! I don't actually believe that she's in the same grade as me.

"Oh right, I haven't seen you around before. Are you new here?"

More people were in the corridor now, all walking to their classes even though the first bell hadn't even rung yet. Red in front of me looked up and saw the amount of people now in the corridor and smirked. She then looked back at me before shouting at the top of her lungs.

"YOU DON'T REMEMBER ME? WE HOOKED UP TWO WEEKS AGO! DO YOU NOT REMEMBER ME, ASSHOLE? YOU GAVE ME A STD, YOU ASS!"

Everybody in the corridor was looking at us now with shocked expressions. That little minx… I then look at the crowd of people that has gathered. Oh great, we have an audience. She is so dead for this.

"What the hell are you all looking at? SHOWS OVER! GO TO YOUR CLASSES YOU MORONS!" I yelled at them. When I turned around to yell at the redhead, I saw that she was rolling on the floor crying with laughter. She was laughing hysterically, did she think this was funny? She just humiliated me in front of half the school! What was up with this girl? "Do you think this is funny?" I asked her incredulously.

Between laughs she managed to choke something out, "You…. looked like… a… constipated… alpaca!" I scowled at her. Did she know who I am? I am Jace Lightwood. You do NOT get on the bad side of Jace Lightwood unless you want your life to be a living hell!

"Did I give you a STD?" She shakes her head, no. "Did we even hook up?" Another no. I take a deep breath to calm my anger. "Are you new?" A nod. "Do you have a clue who I am?"

"The great and powerful Oz." She replies sarcastically, imitating the wizard of Oz. This just fuels my anger more.

"You little bitch! YOU JUST HUMILIATED ME!" She stands up and looks me in the eyes.

"You deserved it." WTF? She's known me for what, two minutes and she says that. She knows absolutely nothing about me!

"Do you know what, Red? Me and my friends are going to make your life here a living hell here." I say practically growling at her.

"I doubt that." She says, a smug smile tugging at her lips.

"Oh, and why would that be?" I ask her angrily but also slightly curious as to why she thinks that.

"Because my brother wouldn't let you." She says, that smug smile there.

"Oh, gonna call up big bro to some kick some guys' asses? Can't fight your own battles eh, Red?"

"Believe me I can." That's all she says. What is up with this girl? Normally they would have backed down by now. Not stood their ground. If she hadn't just embarrassed me in front of everybody, I would probably have taken a liking to her. Her loss. "Man-whore." She added. I do growl at her this time.

"Look, I am going to give you one chance to apologise to me." I say, completely serious.

"Okay, Jace." Wait, how does she know my name? "I am sorry but I have been having a crap day worrying about joining here and I just got annoyed and needed to cool down so I did that. It's only now that I have realised who you are and my brother is going to kill me for this. I'm supposed to 'be nice' and if he knows that I humiliated his best friend he will probably kill me. Not that I can't kick his ass, 'cause I can. But I am sorry, OK? Can we start again?" Before I can respond though, she adds, "I don't want to be friends, though. I don't do friends, just in case that is what you were thinking."

My anger has somehow dissipated and confusion has taken its place there. "Wait, I'm confused. Who the hell is your brother?"

"Oh right, yeah. Sorry. Let me introduce myself. I am Clarissa Fairchild, daughter of Jocelyn Garroway and sister of Jonathan Christopher Garroway who is best friends with Jonathan Lightwood. I am sixteen years of age and am currently attending Raziel High School for the Gifted and Talented. Not that I'm actually gifted or talented at anything."

OH! That makes sense. OH MY GOD! Jon is going to kill me if he knows that I called his little sister a bitch! He's so protective of her. I'm dead. She wants to start again, that should be OK. I mean I actually kinda did like her at first so I guess it couldn't hurt. But how come her last name is Fairchild? I'll have to ask Jon about that.

"New start sounds good to me. Nice to meet you, Clarissa." I held my hand to her and she raised her eyebrows in question at me. "What?"

"I just think it's funny how literally a minute ago we were screaming at each other and now we're shaking the others' hand." She shakes her head a little, a few of her curls coming out of place, framing her face. "But seriously, a handshake? Are we in the 1800s or something?"

"No, but I like to treat all ladies with respect." She snorts, I glare. "Therefore, I shall greet you with a handshake." She groans while I laugh. "I am THE Jace Lightwood, co-captain of the soccer team and your brother's best friend. I am also stunningly attractive, you could say I look like an Angel. Because let's be honest, I do. I am sorry for calling you a bitch, I didn't mean it, heat of the moment, I guess. Friends?"

She shakes my hand but reminds me, "I said I don't do friends, remember?" I want to ask her why but decide against it as she probably won't tell me anyway.

"Don't worry, I'll change that." I say cockily.

"I have never had friends, don't see the need for them. I am perfectly fine." That is most definitely odd.

"Don't worry, I'll change that." I say again, cockily.

"No you won't."

"Yes I will."

"No you won't."

"Will."

"Won't."

"Will."

"Won't."

"Will."

"Won't."

"Will."

"Won't."

"Won't."

"Will."

I laugh. That works every time, oldest trick in the book!

"DAMNIT! You have got to be kidding!" She groans while I laugh even more. I definitely like her. I don't see how Jon could describe her as shy though. She is anything but shy!

"I can't believe you fell for that! It's the oldest trick in the book, Clarissa!" I tell her.

"God, I know! Oh, and BTW it's just Clary."

"OK, then just Clary."

"You're unbearable, Jace. Do you know that?" She asks.

"Yup." I say, popping the 'p'. "It's my middle name."

Clary ponders this for a moment. "Jace Unbearable Lightwood. Has a nice 'ring' to it, don't you think?"

I laugh, I think I like Clary a lot. Just as I was about to make a retort, the warning bell rang. Had we been talking for that long? Clary grabs her bag. As the bell stops ringing I turn to her and ask: "Need help with your locker, Red?" She blushes and I ask for her combination she gives it to me and turn to the lockers and muse aloud. "Hmmm… I wonder which one it is. They all look the same except this one," I point to the one with a huge dent in it. "It looks like someone or something may have punched it and made a dent, I wonder why they would do that." I look at Clary who rolls her eyes. "Oh! This one's yours Clary. How strange. I do wonder who made that dent!" I open it for her and she mumbles a thank-you, I then proceed to open mine and exchange my books. "Clary, can I have a look at your schedule?" She nods then hands it over to me. When I see what her classes are, a huge grin settles over my face.

1: Maths - Mr. Starkweather, Room 203  
2: Art – Miss Gray, Room 73  
3: Spanish – Mrs. Penhallow, Room 46  
4: Gym – Mr. Carstairs, Track  
LUNCH  
5: Music – Mrs. Blackthorn, Room 17  
6: Extra Gym – Mr. Carstairs, Hall

It is exactly the same as mine! She looks at me expectantly as she bangs her locker shut. For some reason, this just makes my grin grow impossibly wider. Seeing my over-the-moon expression, her brows furrow.

"What?" She snaps.

"Well, I just happen to know this amazingly attractive person that has all the same classes as you." I pause for a moment to find the right words. "He is gorgeous. Has godly looks and most people faint at the sight of him. Yes, he's just that good. He-"

Clary cuts me off. "Oh for the angel's sake, just tell me who!"

"I thought it was obvious, the description was exceptionally accurate." I sling an arm over her shoulder and she flinches when I do so. Weird. Clary then awkwardly shrugs my arm off.

"Just tell me who, Jace." She demands impatiently.

"Why, it's me of course!"

"Oh, yay for me." Clary says sarcastically. I can't help but give her one of my rare genuine smiles.

"I know, aren't you lucky. Having this," I gesture towards my body "Gloriousness all to yourself! C'mon let's get to class."

As we walk toward Maths, I hear the redhead next to me mutter something under her breath that sounds like 'cocky, arrogant, egotistical, obnoxious little bastard. This. Is. Hell.'

I think her and Isabelle will get along perfectly fine.


	3. Swearing in Spanish, in Spanish

_**DAMAGED GOODS – CHAPTER 3 – Swearing in Spanish, in Spanish**_

**_CLARY POV:_**  
On our way to Maths, we walk in a comfortable silence. I think Jace really believes that he will be my friend. It's not that I don't want us to be friends, because I do. But it's because I can't be friends with people. I'll get hurt. Then I'll hurt them. I don't want to be hurt. I don't want to hurt people. Unless they're assholes, I'll quite happily do it then. I have never had friends before, only people who I talked to. I would sit with them at lunch but I had no emotional attachment to them, like with Sebastian. I think I was only with him so guys would stop constantly asking me out and for the popularity. Not that I actually care about what people think of me. I there was one person that I would love, it would be my brother. I don't think I could survive without him, he's there for me anytime. There's been so many times when I have needed him and he has come to help me no matter where he was. I've never cried in front of him though. The only person who has ever seen me cry is my father. Jonathan always helps me get through things even if I won't tell him what happened. He knows that I didn't tell him everything about Valentine, but he's never questioned it. Jonathan is so close to me, but I've never really opened up to him because I don't want to hurt him. To love is to destroy and to be loved is to be the one destroyed. I'm not sure if I'm capable of love, I don't think I'll ever find out either.

I feel something poking me cheek and I turn to glare at the culprit. Jace.

"WHAT?!" I whisper shout at him.

"I've been trying to get your attention for the last two minutes. Where were you?"

I feel my cheeks heat up. He sees and laughs, while I glare at him. Sometimes I do that, just completely zone out and I'm not aware of anything around me. Once I ended up walking for six hours and I hadn't even realised that I had actually left the house. I had arrived back home at about four in the morning. Let's just say that my mother was not pleased with me.

"Anyways," He says. "I was just saying that we were here." He motions toward the door. I nod and he opens it, stepping in first.

"Ah, Mr. Lightwood. You decided to grace us with your presence then did you? Five minutes late, might I add?" A deep voice spoke, who I am assuming was Mr. Starkweather. "So what is your excuse this time, eh?"

Jace has his usual smirk playing at his lips when he answers. "Well, firstly I just want to say that I thought we were on a first name basis now, Hodge. Secondly, I actually do have an excuse as I was showing Clary here," I step into the room. "To her first class." He finishes. I can see that Mr. Starkweather is annoyed with the whole first name thing. Deciding that I'm not particularly fond of this teacher, I try to piss him off further.

"Nice to meet you, _Hodge_." The teacher's nostrils flare in anger whilst the rest of the class were snickering. Guess this doesn't happen often

He takes a breath to calm down then looks back to me and Jace. "Mr. Lightwood and Miss….?"

"Fairchild, Hodge. It's Fairchild." I supply for him in an innocent voice.

"Mr. Lightwood and Miss Fairchild, take your seats at the back, please." In a stern voice that is supposed to be intimidating but doesn't threaten me at all.

I pout at him and say in a loud voice so the rest of the class can here, "But I want to stay at the front so me and you can gossip all lesson. OMFG! Did you see that turquoise nail polish they had? It was so rad, right?" He scowls at me.

"Clarissa, this is your warning. Go sit down at the back or I'll send you to the principal." Yeah, because he will do a lot! The principal is my step-father, dimwit. I am tempted to say this but decide against it. Instead I skip to the back of the room whilst shouting to Mr. Starkweather, "I'll text you tonight, Hodge. Then we can both get makeovers tomorrow!"

Jace comes and sits next to me but doesn't say anything, which I am thankful for. I don't feel like trying to make conversation, it's too much effort and there is no personal gain from it. The next half an hour of Maths goes by uneventfully. I just zoned out and started drawing a rose in my sketchbook.

"Clarissa!" Hodge shouts at me. "Are you paying any attention to this class?"

"No. Why would I? I learnt all of this when I was eight." He looks at me incredulously. It's true though. On the blackboard there is a very complicated algebraic equation. I instantly know the answer to it. How easy is this? Does he think we're six or something? You see, I am an A+ student in all of my classes, not to brag. My father taught me everything I know before I was ten. So I don't really pay much attention to any of classes and I am constantly getting in trouble for it. My father had said that what I was learning when I was eight was what most people will never be able to do. So yeah, I am kinda a genius! I suppose not all of what my father did was terrible, some things do have their advantages. Like this, I am totally going to piss off Hodge by showing him just how amazing I am! Sarcasm – again.

"So, Clarissa. If you really learnt this when you were eight you wouldn't mind coming up here and showing us the answer to this question. But Miss. Fairchild, I doubt you will be able to answer correctly as neither me nor anybody I have ever met has had the ability to solve this equation. But by all means, show us." He says very smugly. He must be joking! Although this is a complicated equation, it's not that hard. It only took me a few seconds to find the answer. But what annoys me is that he think I'm lying! So I stand up purposefully and walk up to the blackboard. I wipe my hands on my top and pick up a piece of chalk. Once I have finished solving the equation, I turn to face Hodge with a smug smile playing at my lips. He looked amazed. Yeah, suck on that!

"Y-y-you." He stuttered. "H-how?"

"As, I said, I learnt this when I was eight. It's not even that hard!" I tell him.

"But that's impossible! No normal eight year old could understand that. I don't even understand it!" He says in disbelief. Hodge check the equation over once more just to check that it is correct, which it is of course. Feeling proud of myself, I walk back to my seat where Jace is giving me a weird look. I attempt to raise one eyebrow at him but fail and just raise both. As I'm sitting back down, he starts speaking.

"Y'know nobody has ever made Starkweather like that, good job. But seriously, how'd you do it? That equation has been on the board for months and nobody, not even the teachers have been able to solve it! I didn't peg you as the Einstein type." He asks curiously. I just shrug my shoulder and he lets the subject go.

The bell rang and Jace led the way to Art. Art is going by in a blur. Luckily, Jace didn't sit next to me in this class, he was at the front whilst I was at the back. The class had started a project last week where we have to draw and shade in a picture of a childhood memory. Most people were only about half way through their drawing when I finished it in half an hour. It was a picture of my best memory with my father, it was one of the only good memories I actually have of him. In the drawing, there was a tall, muscular white-blonde man handing a little girl a slice of bread, the girl only looked about six. I still had another half thirty minutes until Spanish so I pulled out my phone and headphones and listened to some music. I closed my eyes and a few minutes later someone nudged me. I looked up to see the teacher, Miss. Gray looking at my drawing with an amazed expression.

"Clarissa, this is absolutely amazing," I don't bother correcting her on my name as she picks up the drawing and studies it. "Truly amazing."

I snort and she gives me an odd look. I then tell her this: "It is not amazing, it's rubbish. Look at it. The shading is too thick and dense on the background, the outlines aren't defined enough and the expressions on their faces don't truly convey the message of what is happening. It's not any good. It's a doodle, if that." She looks at me with wide eyes, what had I said?

"Don't doubt yourself."

With that she walks back off to the front of the class. Ok, that was a bit odd… I get lost in the music I'm listening to and I only realise that the bell had rung when I looked up to see everyone packing their bags and heading out of the door to their next lesson. Jace came over and waited for me. Why was he being so nice? Nobody is this nice, it's just plain weird. Once I've packed my bag, we head out the door to another boring hour at school. I don't know why I decided to take Spanish because I'm already fluent in it. I guess I just thought It would be an easy option and I wouldn't have to work hard at all for it. I just wanted to get this lesson over with so then I could go to gym. I hate just sitting around. Gym, Art and Music are the only classes that are OK, because you actually get to do stuff. I absolutely hate just sitting around, I just have this urge to do something. I'm pretty sure that I have ADHD! I'm not even kidding, that is the scary part.

When we arrive, the teacher, Mrs. Penhallow assigns me a seat near the back next to someone called Isabelle. I walk over to her and when I take a look at her, I'm instantly jealous. She's gorgeous. Her hair is raven black and falls down her back in such an elegant way, unlike me. My hair is just a mess of red. She's very tall, even without heels and she has soft brown eyes. Her clothes look amazing, she is wearing a tight black pencil skirt and white blouse and even with her very simple outfit, she could have the attention of the school's entire male population with just a wink. All in all, she is the complete opposite of me.

Feeling like someone was watching her, Isabelle looks up and her eyes lock on me. She smiles and practically jumps off her chair to come and greet me.

"Hi I'm Isabelle! But PLEASE call me Izzy. Or Iz. Or y'know whichever one you prefer." Wow, she's erm… bubbly? "So your name is…" She trails off waiting for me to answer

"Oh, sorry. Right I'm Clarissa but you can call me Clary." Isabelle's eyes go wide and she starts jumping up and down on the spot and squeals. Feeling slightly uncomfortable I ask quite concerned, "Are you OK? Are you having some kind of attack?" She stops bouncing and looks at my concerned face. She then starts laughing. Okaaayyy….

"Sorry about that," she apologises "But I am easily excited."

Evidently. "Because my name is extremely exciting." I say in a questioning voice.

"No, silly! You're Clarissa. Clarissa Garroway, Jon's sister." Oh. That explains why she was being such a fan-girl then. She is one of Jon's friends. I hoped he wouldn't tell anybody that I was moving here because I didn't want the unneeded attention, I could understand him telling Jace but I have never heard of any Isabelle.

"Erm, actually it's Fairchild. Not Garroway. I didn't take Luke's name." I correct her.

Her brows furrow. "Why didn't you take his name?" The way she asks I can tell that she's not prying but it is just pure curiosity. Normally I'd get annoyed with anyone who asked this but I decide against screaming at her and just answer truthfully because she seemed relatively nice.

"Well, I mean he _is_ the closest thing that I have to a father but I don't know, it's just that he isn't really my dad. Do you know what I mean?" I say.

"Well Clary, no. I don't really understand but I get what you mean. Anyways I was just going –"

"CLARISSA AND ISABELLE!" Mrs. Penhallow shouted at us. "Is there something you would like to share with the class or would you mind taking your seats, please?"

"En realidad, sí. Estamos hablando de lo irritante que eres." _Actually, yes. We're just talking about how annoying you are. _

Outraged, she asks, "Discúlpeme?" _Excuse me?_

I shrug and then continue to speak in Spanish with her. "Decíamos que esta clase es una mierda." _We were saying that this class is crap._

She looks at me in disbelief. "Clarissa, esta es su advertencia. Si no paras, te voy a enviar al director." _Clarissa, this is your warning. If you do not stop, I will send you to the principal._

"Oooooh, tengo miedo!" _Oooooh, I'm scared! _I say mocking fear.

"El director no será tan indulgente como yo, Clarissa." _The principal will not be as forgiving as I, Clarissa._

Just to piss her off I say in English now, "Yes, he will." I pause for dramatic effect. "Because he's my step-father." I say thinking of Star Wars. I hear a theatrical gasp and search for where it came from and see a nerdy guy with mousy brown hair and he's wearing a gamer tee that says 'I am a badass and I recognise that you too, are a badass'. I smile at him and turn my attention back to the pissed off teacher.

She sighs and just says, "Siéntate." _Sit_. I smirk and take my seat next to Isabelle who is now looking at me with a very amused and surprised expression. The teacher then starts doing her lesson and I watch, very bored. I can't wait until Gym, only twenty minutes. Wait, gym. Oh crap! I forgot my gym clothes.

"MIERDA!" whoops, didn't mean to swear in Spanish, out loud and well, very loudly. All eyes turn to me and the teacher looks furious. Sorry?

"Principal's office. Now!" Mrs. Penhallow is practically growling at me. I can picture her as one of those cartoon characters that have smoke coming out of her ears!

I grab my stuff and walk out. Someone shouts: "See you later, alligator!"

I don't even know who said it but I shout back, "In a while, crocodile!" As I walk out the door, I hear the whole class erupt in laughter.

I walk to the the principal's office and knock on the door. He shouts a 'come in' so I open the door and sit on one of the comfy chairs in front of Principal Garroway's desk.

"Ah, Miss Fairchild. I thought I would be seeing you today." Mr. Garroway says, clearly amused.

"No, you were hoping you would see me today because you missed me too much!" I correct.

He scoffs. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Clarissa."

Me and Luke both start laughing. "So?" He asks me. "What teacher did you annoy now?"

"Well I didn't really annoy a teacher that much." I say to him

"Well then, what did you do?"

"I had sex in the janitor's cupboard." I tell him, dead serious. He choked on the tea that he was drinking and looked at me with wide eyes. Gotcha! His face had paled visibly and his expression was one of pure and utter horror.

"Y-y-you WHAT?" He asks me incredulously.

I couldn't hold it in any more and I busted out laughing. By the time I actually stop laughing, I had tears rolling down my cheeks. I'm sorry but that was just too funny. Luke scowls at me, clearly not impressed. Still, it was worth it. I smile at him sweetly.

"Please, never do that again, Clary. Anyways, why are you here? Not that I'm not happy to see you but I'd rather it not be under these circumstances."

"Well, I was swearing in Spanish, in Spanish. Mrs. Penhallow sent me here." I inform him.

"And you were swearing in Spanish, in Spanish because…?"

"Well, I thought it would be inappropriate to swear in Japanese when I was in a Spanish class. Therefore, I swore in Spanish. It's actually quite logical when you think about." I say to him, with a straight face.

Luke chuckles. "Y'know what Clary? You are very unique. However that was not the point of my question. I was wondering what the reason for you swearing in Spanish, in Spanish was."

"Well Principal Garroway, if you had phrased it like that in the first place, you would have found the answer you were seeking quicker, wouldn't you? You need to phrase your questions better, I am disappointed in you, Lucian." He chuckles again. "As to why I was swearing in Spanish, in Spanish, I had just remembered that I forgot my Gym clothes. But, in my defence if Jonathan hadn't been annoying, as usual, I wouldn't have been frustrated thus I would have remembered to bring Gym clothes."

"The drama of American High School. I hear that English High Schools are much less chaos. Most of them have school uniform. I was thinking of implementing a uniform policy here, wouldn't that be great, Clary?"

I looked at him incredulously. He wasn't serious was he? "Please tell me that you are kidding. You are kidding, right?" He laughs at my extremely distressed voice, I'll take that as a no. "Don't ever say anything like that again, Luke. The idea of a school uniform is even more terrifying than mum on Christmas day!" Luke laughs again while I glare at him.

"Before me and Jonathan left for school this morning, he realised that you had forgotten your kit so being the lovely people that we are," I snigger and it is his turn to glare. "We bought your clothes with us." He picks up my gym kit from behind his desk and gives it to me.

"Thank-you, Luke." I say to him sincerely. "What were you, Jon and Mum doing this morning because Jon said that you wanted to talk to him."

"Don't worry it was nothing." He answers quickly. Too quickly. This is making me think that they are hiding something from me. Before I can interrogate him over it, he changes the subject. Back to business now. "Clary, try not to get into any more trouble today as I will have to give you a detention even if you are new." I nodded my head in understanding. "Head towards your next lesson, you've only got a few minutes until next period so you can beat the rush!"

I give a short laugh and Luke looks at me questioningly. "It's just that I always find it funny when guys say period because well y'know!" He looks slightly uncomfortable but laughs at me anyway.

"Go to your next lesson, I'll see you at home. Oh and Clary? Sometimes you have the mind of a ten year old." He says.

"Yup." I agree, popping the 'p'.

I open the door and close it behind me. The corridors are deserted and it makes me feel like I'm in one of those horror movies where someone with a chainsaw is about jump out of a locker and cut me into tiny little chunks of Clary that he will feed to his pet grizzly bear. I watch some weird films, OK?

I make my way to the Gym, my black combat boots thudding heavily against the shiny laminate floor. The bell rings and I pick up my pace, trying to avoid being mulled over by a thousand hormonal teenagers. When I get to the gym, I head into the girls' changing room. Finally, Gym is here!


	4. Losing to a girl!

_**DAMAGED GOODS – CHAPTER 4 – Losing to a girl!**_

_**JACE POV:**_  
I was surprised by Clary today. For our first three lessons, I've been observing her. Wait, that sounded like I was some kind of perverted stalker. I don't mean in that way! Clary constantly puts herself down, she thinks that she is nothing special and she dismisses herself as just another normal girl. Clary is far from that. She is amazing and so talented in everything she does. Clarissa Fairchild is the perfect girl. She can deny it as much as she wants, but me and her are going to be _very_ good friends. I found it hilarious when in Maths when Clary started to piss Mr. Starkweather off and as the cherry on top, she humiliated him when she solved that equation that he has spent months trying to figure out, in less than a minute! She is definitely something special. As I'm fluent in Spanish, I could understand the whole exchange between Mrs. Penhallow and Clary. Let me say that I found it rather entertaining, however, our teacher did not feel the same – for the rest of the lesson she had a scowl on her face and looked murderous! I think the best part though was when Clary just out of the blue swore, practically shouting in Spanish. I couldn't help but laugh. Mrs. Penhallow was seething so she sent Clary to the principal, not that that would do much because the principal was her step-father. Knowing Luke, he'll probably just laugh right along with her about it.

After changing into some shorts and a black top, I head out onto the track, eager to see Clary again. When I get onto the field my eyes practically bulge out of their sockets when I see Clary stretching out in only a dark blue sports bra and matching spandex. Whoa! She is looking HOT. All of the boys' eyes are on her and they're all drooling over her, actually I think a few of them literally _are_ drooling! In a vain attempt to gain our attention, Coach claps his hands together loudly. This doesn't work so instead he pulls out his whistle and blows into it and sure enough all eyes turn to him as the whistle lets out an ear splitting high pitched sound.

"Okay, class! We will be starting a new unit tomorrow but for today just do six laps around the field and then you can do whatever you want for the rest of the hour!" Coach Carstairs bellows.

Everyone groans except from me. Six laps is nothing, you pussys. When I looked at Clary she was smiling, so she's sporty as well. Can this girl get any better? There's no way she can be as good as me though, nobody is better than me when it comes to sport. I spot Jon, Alec and Magnus and go to walk over to them. This is the only class I have with my three best friends, with them being seniors and me being a junior. Alec and Magnus greet me with a manly nod although some of Magnus' glitter falls from his hair; this deducts from the masculinity of the nod a bit. However, Jon just glares at me. What have I done to piss him off now? We start running the six laps, Jon is still giving me the cold shoulder so I decide to ask what's the matter.

"Jon, why are you pissed at me?" I ask him.

He looks at me sceptically before shaking his head. "I'll talk to you at lunch about okay, man?" Signalling that the conversation is over, I start running at my usual pace so that I'm at the head of the class, as usual. Or so I think. When I look up I see a certain redhead about a hundred metres ahead of me. How the hell? She's running at a good steady pace that even I couldn't keep up and isn't faltering at all. I force my legs to go faster. Soon, I catch up with her and am panting slightly. But, Clary, she isn't even slightly out of breath. How the hell can she run this well? She glances at me out of the corner of her eye but says nothing. Clary then picks up her pace a bit so that I am now struggling to keep up with her. When I get to her I choke out, "Slow down a bit, I want to talk for a second. Please?"

She thinks about this for a second before slowing her pace. Thank god, I think I might have died if I kept running at that speed. We had already lapped the rest of the class. I was sweating like hell yet Clary has to even break a sweat! Noticing my amazed expression, she smirks. "How the hell do you run like that?" She just shrugs nonchalantly. I then see a mischievous look appear in her eyes, I swallow having a bad feeling about that look…

"I have an idea…" I raise an eyebrow at her. "Let's have a competition."

"What kind of competition?" I ask sceptically.

"See who can finish the six laps first. We've only got three laps left. Pwetty pweeaassseeee?" I roll my eyes at her whining childlike voice.

"I don't know…" I say, not knowing if I should get into a competition with Clary.

"Oh, don't worry, I understand. Your pride won't be able to cope with losing to a girl. It will be too big of a hit for your ego, won't it?" That's it. I can't back down now.

"You're on, Red." I take a deep breath, readying myself. "3… 2… 1… GO!"

Clary sprints off whilst I am trying hard not to collapse as I command my legs to keep going and move faster. I can't see Clary now but when I go past Jon, he gives me a sympathetic look and says, "Never get into a competition with Clary, again." I try to say something but being so out of breath all that escapes my mouth is a small sound. Jon chuckles at my inability to talk. All of a sudden, Clary is beside me with a huge grin on her face. She knows that she has already won because she has lapped me. The little… Clary then runs to Jon and gives him a kiss on the cheek before coming back to me to smirk at me. I pick up my pace a bit so that we're at the front of the pack again. Just to rub in my failure, Clary starts running circles around me. She was right though, my ego has taken a hit from this. I'm losing to a girl! When we're about 200m from where the finish is and coach is waiting for us, Clary says: "Bye, Jace. See you in about ten minutes, at the pace you're running at!" She gives me a small wave and I scowl at her. Then she skips, actually skips, to the end where Coach Carstairs is looking at her with admiration.

When I finish the six laps, I literally collapse. I'm just lying on the grass with an unusually bright January sun beating on my face and I'm panting like a dog and sweating like I've just ran a marathon. When, in reality it was only a measly three miles.

When I finally have the energy to stand up, I see coach smirking at me. Oh great. Now he's going to make fun of me for losing to a girl. Then Jon will make fun of me for losing to a girl. Then Clary is going to make fun of me. God, EVERYONE is going to be making fun of me. Oh, and there's just that rumour about me giving some girl a STD that Clary oh so graciously started this morning! This day is just getting better and better. I am not looking forward to lunch at all.

"So, Jace," Carstairs starts. "How do you feel right now, knowing that you are no longer the best?" He asks with his grin still in place.

Sarcastically, I say, "Oh, just freaking peachy!" Coach laughs whilst I literally growl. When I turn around I see Clary trying, and failing, to contain her laughter. "Go for it. You can laugh I don't care!" I sigh waiting for it to come and surely both Clary and Coach burst out laughing even harder than before. Immature morons…

"Hey, Jace?" I look at her. "THINK FAST!" She then throws something very quickly at me. Just before it can hit me square in the face, I duck. The object she threw at me was a bottle of water and I quickly unscrew the cap and gulp it all down in one go. I mutter a thanks to Clary for the water. Surprisingly, Clary doesn't make any comments about her beating me. Jon walks up to me and claps me on the back. "Good Job, Jace. You got totally crushed by my sister though!"

Magnus decides to pipe in now. "I have to agree with Jonathan. It was rather amusing to watch." Magnus stops for a second before basically screaming at us. "WAIT! DID YOU JUST SAY SISTER? HOW LONG HAVE YOU HAD A SISTER? HOW DO YOU HAVE A SISTER?" I laugh at Magnus.

Jon sighs before answering Magnus. "Yes, I have a sister and I have had one for sixteen years. And as for how I have a sister, I'm pretty sure you know how, Magnus." Jon Winks while me and Alec snigger. "Unless that is, if you really paid _no_ attention at all in Sex Ed."

"_Boys._ I really do wonder why I am gay sometimes." Magnus mumbles but loud enough so we can all hear.

"You're gay because girls are too moody and are too dramatic. Would you want to be Izzy's boyfriend when she is PMS-ing? Because you've all seen it and it is not pretty." Alec states. If Isabelle is PMS-ing and you piss her off, you should be scared because she can be lethal.

"If you think Izzy is bad, you should see Clary. When she is on her period she will kick your ass for giving her a 2b pencil instead of a 3b. Once she got so pissed off because I said she was hormonal that she sprained my ankle, gave me a black eye and nearly broke my arm." Jon shuddered at the memory. "Stay out of her way at all costs at her girly times. She's bad enough normally but when she's PMS-ing, she is a thousand times worse. Clary is not pretty when she is PMS-ing, she kinda looks like a furious panther on steroids." We all laughed hard but we stop abruptly when we hear a furious Clary.

"Excuse me, but I didn't hear exactly what you said that I looked like when I am PMS-ing. Jonathan Christopher Garroway, would you mind repeating it." Clary said slowly in a scary calm voice. All of the guys had stopped laughing and Jon swallowed in fear. I have got admit though, Clary is very threatening when she's pissed,

"Erm… I said that you look… erm?" Jon couldn't think of the right thing to say.

"Would you spit it out already?" She demands.

"I said that you look beautiful like you always do, Clary. You know that I love you, right?" I couldn't help but see Clary stiffen a little bit when Jon said that he loved her. What's that about?

"That's what I thought you said." She exclaims, her voice sounding a bit softer now. "Do you need a ride home later? I've got a spare helmet in the bike if you do."

"Nah, I'm good. I'll just a catch a ride with Jace. Scratch that, I'll take Luke's car and he can find some other way to get home!" Clary nods and goes to walk away but I stop her.

"Clary, wait!" She turns around to look at me. "Is that Ducati yours? The 1199?" She nods. It turns out that this girl can get better, I don't see how you can be this perfect though. I mean, I know _I'm_ this perfect but I never thought it was possible for _another_ human to be as amazing as me. Because let's be honest, I am absolutely amazing. Anybody who thinks otherwise has a problem with their brain. Or their eyes.

"HOLY CRAP! I've wanted one of them for years." She smiles again but instead of trying to make conversation, she just heads back to the locker rooms to get changed. When I turn back to the boys they are all giving me weird looks. What, do I have something on my face?

"What?" I snap at them.

This seems to break them out of their trance that they were in. Alec and Magnus just shake their heads, as if to rid them of their thoughts. What is up with them? Then in unison Magnus and Alec say: "Nothing." They look at each other and smile. This whole honeymoon phase that they have going on at the moment is starting to get a little bit irritating. Then they start kissing! Oh God, great!

"NO PDA IN MY CLASS! WAIT UNTIL LUNCH SO YOU CAN GO INTO A STORE CLOSET!" Alec blushes a deep red while Magnus just grins manically, I guess they have done that before then. I am silently thanking coach that he stopped them because I have accidentally walked in on them when they were in a passionate make-out session and I really don't want to see it again. It's an image I would rather forget.

We walk back to the changing rooms to have showers and get changed.

_**JON POV  
**_After my conversation with Mum and Dad this morning, I have taken it upon myself to occupy the overprotective brother position. This morning they just wanted to tell me to not let Clary get hurt and they were asking me if I could try to get her to open up more and make some friends. This is what I have been trying to do for six years but as we have been going to different schools, I haven't really been able to. This is my one opportunity to make Clary back into the Clary I knew when she was five. I want to see Clary laugh again. Hell, I want to see her cry! I have never seen my baby sister cry, she thinks that if she pulls other people into her problems that they'll just look down on her or something stupid like that. I just want her to show some kind of emotions other than anger.

I know that she hasn't told us about everything that happened with Valentine for the first ten years of her life but I want, no need, to know. I suspect what he did to her was what changed her. When she came to visit me and mum every other weekend she was happy until the age of five. Then she just stopped being Clary and became all closed off and hardly ever showed any of her feelings. I want to dig Valentine up from his grave, kill him again just so I have the satisfaction of seeing him in pain. He deserves it for whatever pain he put my little sister through. As you can see, I'm not the biggest fan of Valentine Morgenstern. He was a cruel and sadistic father and I'm happy that he is six feet under the ground.

When Clary moved back in with us, she was ten and I was twelve. Her whole body was marked with angry blue purple and yellow bruises. I was so mad at myself that I had never realised what was happening. Since then, I have tried my best to protect her from anyone or anything that could hurt her because she already has enough hurt and pain for ten lifetimes. My sister is the strongest person I have ever met but at times she is also the most defenceless.

As we arrive at the cafeteria, Me, Jace, Alec and Magnus walk over to the table where Izzy and her boyfriend, Simon are sitting. Izzy greets us cheerfully. "Hi guys! How are you? How was gym? Me and Simon were erm… busy so we couldn't come to gym."

Oh, I bet you were _busy_ with Simon, Isabelle Sophia Lightwood.

"Excuse me?" Isabelle screeched.

"Did I say that aloud?" I ask no one in particular.

"Yes." Jace says amusedly. Whoops!

"Sorry?" I suggest.

Izzy rolls her eyes knowing full well that I am not sorry at all.

"So, I met your sister in Spanish, Jon." I prompt her to go on. "Well, I like her. She actually has some balls unlike you lot." She eyes Magnus.

"Hey, why are you looking at me?" Magnus asks, throwing his hands up in the air. Me and Jace chuckle.

"No reason, Maggie." She sings as Magnus scowls, he hates being called that. "Anyway, as I was saying, I like your sister. Also, it would be nice to have a girlfriend. Sometimes all the testosterone here gets a bit overwhelming. I think me and Clary are going to be good friends, I like how she won't take any crap from anybody." I scoff.

"Izzy, Clary doesn't really do 'friends'. However I am trying to change that so you could help me with that." She nods excitedly. "That reminds me of something." I look at Jace. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" He raises an eyebrow at me. "Alone." I add. Everyone at the table are looking between us trying to figure out what was happening. Jace sighs and stands up. We walk out of the cafeteria and into an empty corridor where there are no disruptions. Jace is the first to speak.

"So, are you going to tell me why you were pissed off with me earlier?" Jace asks.

"Don't hurt Clary, Jace." I tell him.

"What?" He blurts, quite confused.

"I saw the way you were looking at her in gym. Looking at her like you do when you're interested in someone. And, you were checking her out-"

Jace cuts me off. "Man, I check every girl out-" I hold a hand up to stop him and I continue.

"She isn't like every girl, Jace. She's special. If you ever do anything, even the smallest little thing and you hurt her, I will not hesitate to break you. Understand?" He nods. "You're my best friend but I know what you're like with girls. You can have whoever you want, just. Not. Clary." I say punctuating each word to get my message through.

"Okay, Jon." He says and I sigh in relief.

"It's just that she is so fragile. Y'know though, if she ever found that I was having this whole 'overprotective brother' conversation with you, she would probably kill me. She likes to think that she can always fight her own battles, but she can't. Not all the time, everyone has their moments of weakness." I say to him solemnly.

Then before either of us can say a word we hear this: "YOU THINK I'M FREAKING FRAGILE! WTF? YOU'RE RIGHT, YOU ARE SO DEAD RIGHT NOW, JONATHAN CHRISTOPHER!"

Oh crap!


	5. I do need you

_**DAMAGED GOODS – CHAPTER 5 – I do need you.**_

_**CLARY POV:  
**_Once I have changed back into my tank top and jeans, feeling much more comfortable and at ease in them, I walk in the direction of the cafeteria. I wasn't going there to meet anyone, I just wanted to pick up a salad or something because I have just realised that I haven't eaten all day even though I'm not one bit hungry. Turning a corner, I heard two voices talking to each other down a corridor that was completely empty. The voices sound familiar but as I was too far away, I couldn't exactly here them clearly. Feeling slightly curious, I walked nearer to where the voice are. I mean it's not really eaves dropping if they don't find out! As I grew closer I instantly labelled one of the voices to be Jon, but I still can't quite determine who the second voice belongs to.

"….were looking at her in gym. Looking at her like you do when you're interested in someone. And, you were checking her out-"

"Man, I check every girl out-"Who is that? It sounds slightly familiar. I know I've heard it before. Hmmmm…. JACE! It's Jace.

"She isn't like every girl, Jace. She's special. If you ever do anything, even the smallest little thing and you hurt her, I will not hesitate to break you. Understand?" Jon says and there is a pause before he resumes what he was saying. "You're my best friends but I know what you're like with girls. You can have whoever you want, just. Not. Clary." He tells Jace, punctuating each word to get the message through. Wait, are they talking about me? What the hell! Since when does Jonathan have a say in my personal life? I'm fuming, how dare he? It's my life, he doesn't have a say in who I can and can't date. Jace doesn't even like me like that, neither do I, we're not even friends! In addition, it's not like I'm going to get into a relationship because the last time I let someone get remotely close to me, he hurt me. As much as I hate to admit it, Sebastian did actually hurt me with what he said. Why would I plan on letting myself get hurt any further?

"Okay, Jon." Jace says. They're talking about me like I'm an object, It pisses me off how neither of them have thought to consult the person they're talking about. Me.

Jon sounds relieved but depressed when he speaks, "It's just that she is so fragile. Y'know though, if she ever found that I was having this whole 'overprotective brother' conversation with you, she would probably kill me! She likes to think that she can always fight her own battles, but she can't. Not all the time, everyone has their moments of weakness."

WTF? He thinks I'm freaking fragile? I'm not, I can take care of myself and I always have. How does that make me fragile? I'm not weak. Am I? Am I weak and fragile because I have an inability to love? I'm seething right now! How can he say stuff like that about me to someone I don't even know that well. He'll look at me different now that Jon has said that. Without even thinking, I turn the corner and channel all of my anger towards them.

"YOU THINK I'M FREAKING FRAGILE! WTF? OH AND YOU'RE RIGHT, YOU ARE SO DEAD RIGHT NOW, JONATHAN CHRISTOPHER!"

Jace is standing beside Jon looking quite uncomfortable at my outburst. Whereas Jonathan is trying to think of something to say that will dig him out of the hole he's got himself into.

"Clary." Jon sighs.

"Don't 'Clary' me, Jonathan Christopher Garroway. Tell me why exactly you were telling someone I don't really know and hardly like that I am FREAKING WEAK? WHAT THE HELL! I. AM. NOT. FRAGILE." I'm beginning to lose it now, when I get angry you don't want to be near me. If I'm angry and you are within a twenty metre radius, you better run because I will have no control over what I do. It scares me how I can lose control and become so violent when I'm angered. It reminds me too much of my Father and I really don't want to be anything like him. It scares me to think that I might turn out like that son of a bitch.

"Clary, you don't have to pretend to be okay all the time." He say sadly. This just fuels my anger.

"God, Jonathan! I AM OKAY! You don't need to interfere with my life! You have NO right!"

Jon now raises his voice. "GOD, CLARY! I'M YOUR BROTHER, I HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO PROTECT YOU!" Jonathan never shouts, he's never raised his voice at me. He looks too much like Valentine when he's angry and the only person who can ever scare me was Valentine. Right now I can feel that fear slowly creeping back in trying to consume me. But I won't let it. I swallow my fright back and focus on Jonathan who is still yelling. "YOU'RE MY SISTER AND I DON'T WANT YOU TO GET HURT! THIS ISN'T A BIG DEAL, CLARY! I JUST WANT TO HELP YOU!"

He thinks I need his help, I don't. When I did though, he wasn't there. Forgetting Jace was there, I scream back at him. "GUESS WHAT, JONATHAN? YOU WEREN'T THERE WHEN I WAS HURTING. YOU WEREN'T THERE WHEN I NEEDED PROTECTING! YOU WEREN'T THERE WHEN I NEEDED YOU THE MOST! AND NOW WHEN I'M ACTUALLY OKAY, YOU DECIDE THAT NOW IS THE TIME THAT I NEED HELP! I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP NOW. I NEEDED YOUR HELP SEVEN YEARS AGO! I. DO. NOT. NEED. YOU."

Jon looked taken aback by my outburst and there was a flash of hurt across his face. Before he could say anything though I rushed off. I hadn't meant to say that. I'm not angry at Jon for not helping me with Valentine because it isn't his fault. Even if he had known, there would have been nothing he could do about it. I don't blame him at all. The thing is though, is that Jon keeps trying to get close. I can't let him get close. Inevitably, he'll leave me and then I won't ever be able to survive that. No matter how much I want to love Jon, I can't because either I'll destroy him or he'll destroy me. I can't bear the idea of hurting my brother. He is the one thing that has kept me going throughout my life. If I have to push him away to keep him safe, so be it. I don't care how much it will hurt me, as long as he is okay then I think I'll be able to live with that.

It's only when I look up that I realise where my feet have unconsciously taken me – the courtyard. There's nobody here so it's the perfect place to think and be alone with your thoughts. There are a few benches scattered around with large oak trees towering over them. Wanting to be alone, I walk over to one of the trees and start ascending it. About ten feet up, I find a branch that looks big enough and sturdy enough to support my weight. Ungracefully, I clamber onto the branch and throw my backpack onto the widest part of the branch.

I know what I said to Jon was harsh but maybe now he'll back off a bit. Then I'll be able to keep him out of my problems even though I so desperately want him to be there for me. Selfish. I scold myself. I'm being selfish, I can't drag him into my problems because then he'll just get pulled down to the bottom where I am and Jon has so much potential. He has his whole life ahead of him. Whereas I don't see a future for myself at all. I mean, who would want something so broken? Nobody. Nobody would want me. The only reason Jon is doing this is because he's required to as my brother. It's only now that I realise how much I really do need Jon. Without him I don't think I'll be able to handle anything – everything.

I do need Jon.

God, I am such an idiot! Why do I have to push every single person who ever tries to get close to me away? Can't I just accept help once in my life? I could see in his eyes just how much I had hurt my brother. DAMN IT! I'm a selfish bitch! By pushing Jon away, I've been hurting him which the exact thing I've been trying so hard to prevent from happening. If I want to make this up to Jon, I need to do something big and I think I know what but it'll have to wait until we're alone.

Deep in my thoughts, I hadn't even realised that there was someone attempting to gain my attention until something hard hit my shoulder blade. I turned to look at who ever threw that at me but stopped mid-shout. "WHAT THE-"It was the boy from earlier who was wearing the gamer tee. He looked nice and it seems like he didn't mean to do any harm by throwing the small stones.

"Hey, are you alright? You seem a bit upset." He shouted up to me. I smiled at him and shook my head as an answer. "Do you want to come inside and sit with my friends? You look like you could do with some company." I smile at him again before yelling an answer back down to him.

"I guess." I say hesitantly.

"Come on, it looks like it's about to rain so unless you want to get soaked, I'd come inside." He says it gently but like there's no choice in the matter.

"Okay," I say. "Catch this." I throw my backpack and he catches it whilst stumbling backwards a bit at the force of it. I then throw my legs over the side of the tree and lower myself gradually so then I'm eventually dangling from the branch, looking like a monkey. My feet seven feet above the ground, I take a breath and let go. Even after my father made me learn how to land on two feet from heights even higher than this, I'm always worried about it. However, just like always I land steadily on two feet with my knees bent to avoid breaking any bones. I dust my clothes off and look at the boy who has his mouth wide open. I walk over to him and lift his chin up. "You were drooling." I tell him seriously, he wipes his mouth with the end of his tee and I laugh.

"You're like Tarzan or something." He says passing my bag to me.

"Should I take that as an insult or a compliment?" I ask him.

He chuckles before responding. "Compliment. I'm Simon by the way."

"Clary." I tell him.

"Yeah, I know. Kind of hard to forget you with what happened in Spanish!" I feel a blush creep onto my cheeks as we enter the cafeteria.

We're walking towards a table that has five people seated around it and one has very distinctive white-blonde hair – Jonathan. I stop dead in my tracks and Simon stops a few strides ahead of me to turn round.

"What's the matter?" He asks, slightly concerned.

"Are those your friends?" I incline my head towards the table Jon is seated at.

He nods. "Yeah. Don't worry though. Believe me, they don't bite." He pauses for a second before adding, "Well, Magnus did bite me once for stealing his glitter but you should be fine." He says reassuringly.

"I'm pretty sure a certain one with green eyes doesn't particularly want me there though." His brows furrow.

"Why not?"

"Well, I know he probably doesn't want me to be anywhere near him right now as we just had a major argument," I look at the clock. "Ten minutes ago."

"Girlfriend?" He asks.

"Sister."

There's a look of recognition cross his features before he says, "So you are the mysterious Clarissa that Izzy has been going on about. She was texting me like crazy saying that she had just found out that Jon had a sister." I nod. "So you don't want to sit with us?"

"Nah, I'm good, thanks though. But I don't think it's a good idea for me to be around Jon right now. He's probably pretty pissed at me right now." I say.

Simon nods in understanding. "Yeah, I get that. I and my sister always used to fight."

"Right, well I gotta go-"Before I could finish my lame excuse for leaving, the bell rang saving me from a very awkward situation.

"Well, I'll see you around, Clary."

With that he walked off to go to his fourth period.

Having no idea where the music room was, I consult my handy little school guide that I have. When I find the music room I make my way to it, trying not to be late. In the room, there's a whole array of different instruments from a maraca to a grand piano. Wow. People start filing in and I single Jace out easily. They start sitting down on chairs that are forming a circle. You have got to be kidding me. A circle? Ooooh, we're having circle time! Yay! I'm three again and this is going to be so much fun! I snort causing a few people to look in my direction. I look to the floor using my hair as a curtain to stop people from seeing the embarrassed blush that has found its way onto my cheeks. A few minutes later the teacher, who I assume is Mrs. Blackthorn, enters the room and sits down on one of the chairs.

"Today Class we have a new student who has joined us, Clarissa. Would you like to stand up and introduce yourself, dear?" She says.

"Not really." I reply looking her in the eyes. This causes a few people to snigger.

"It wasn't a request, dear." She says smoothly and a few people make dramatic ooooooohs. Immature morons.

I don't stand up but stay seated and talk loudly. "My name is Clarissa Fairchild. Stay out of my way and I'll stay out of yours. Unless you want your asses kicked." Mrs. Blackthorn raises her eyebrows at me and I smile innocently at her. We keep eye contact for what seems like hours but was really only about a minute until she backs down. I smile smugly and cross my legs.

"Right, today class we're just going to have a few performances from some people who are willing." There is a chorus of groans and the teacher rolls her eyes. "Any volunteers who want to go first?" Nobody puts their hands up and she sighs. "If you're all going to be such teenagers then, I'll just _randomly_ pick who goes." Yeah, randomly my ass. "Hmm… Jace." She looks at Jace who is now actually paying attention. "Would you mind going first? You can do whatever you like. Sing. Play. Both. It's completely up to you." Jace grumbles something before heading to the piano.

Jace sighs before he starts playing Beethoven's Für Elise. He is amazing. Jace must have been taught when he was young because the way his hands effortlessly dance across the keys is mesmerizing. I am entranced by the way he can play. I hadn't even realised he had stopped playing when he came to sit back down across the circle from me.

"Jace," Mrs. Blackthorn breathes. "Lovely, as usual. Would you like to pick who goes next?"

Jace looks up to me and smirks. No. Don't you dare. No, don't do it. Please don't. No. No. No!

"Why yes, yes I would." He pauses to look me in the eyes. "Clary."

I groan which causes his stupid smirk to grow even larger. "You have got to be kidding me. I am not doing it." I say completely serious.

"Unless you want to visit the principal, Miss. Fairchild, you will." Damn it! I'll have a detention if I go to see Luke again and I don't particularly want to spend longer than needed in this hell hole that they call school.

Begrudgingly, I stand up and walk over to where an acoustic guitar is standing and start playing the first few chords of I Need You by M83. Blocking out all the eyes that are trained on me, I start to sing.

"_Have you ever had a feeling  
That we're not alone?  
Hold to call the feeling senile  
They unearth more  
Going down the dusty roads  
We are cold and see-through."_

I pour all of my emotions into the music. It's funny how this song applies to me so much right now.

"_I need you,"_

Don't cry Clary. You haven't cried in eight years. You will not cry now. But knowing that I might have messed up too much for Jonathan to ever forgive me makes me want to cry. Get through the song, Clary. I keep telling myself this and carry on singing.

"_There's a reason after all  
All the things that I have done  
Pump the blood and leave it alone  
Anywhere you take me._

_See it all  
Just go and solve it all."_

Blinking tears out of my eyes, I set the guitar back down and hurry back to my seat. I faintly register people clapping but just block it all out and focus on making the tears go away. When I eventually look up, I see Jace looking at me curiously. Noticing my gaze on him, Jace smirks and I discreetly flip him off. Then I turn my attention back to the teacher.

"Clarissa-" She says.

"Clary." I correct.

"Clary, you have an amazing voice and you can play guitar just as well. Do you play any other instruments?" She says sincerely.

"I play six other instruments." I say plainly.

"Care to share which?" She asks.

"No, not really." I tell her, my voice void of any emotion.

Through gritted teeth she says, "Do you want to pick who goes next?"

"Nope." I say popping the 'p'.

"Bradley, can you go now?"

The boy who I presume is Bradley stands up and goes to his instrument of choice. I lean back in my chair and watch the performances eagerly awaiting gym so I can see Jon. When the bell rings I practically jump out of my chair and race for the door.

I barely register anything as I'm getting changed. Just the fact that I'll be able to talk to Jon makes me go faster.

When I reach the hall, nobody is there yet so I just start stretching. A few minutes later someone plops down next to me and starts stretching out as well. When I look to see who it is, I'm surprised to see Isabelle. She doesn't really seem like the sportiest person; her sport is probably shopping.

"Isabe-"

She cuts me off. "What did I tell you?"

"Izzy, I didn't realise you were in this class." I state.

"I wasn't in class earlier because me and my boyfriend Simon, I think you met him at lunch," I nod. "Well he and I were doing some stuff that period so we couldn't come to gym."

Oh. They were doing _stuff_. Yeah, I bet they were. Without comprehending what I was saying I blurt this out: "What cupboard were you in?" I put my hand over my mouth. Hadn't meant to say that. Whoops! "Oh my God! I didn't mean to say that. It's just sometimes I have no filter about what I'm saying. It just comes out." She just laughs it off.

"Really, Clary, I don't care. You and your brother are a lot alike y'know." She states.

"How so?" I ask curiously. I've never really viewed me and Jon as being similar. So why would she think we are?

"It's just that at Lunch today Jon said the same kind of thing. That's all." She says.

I hadn't noticed that whilst me and Isabel-, No. Izzy had been talking that most of the class had come in. I stood up to go over to Jon but Coach Carstairs blew the whistle.

"Right, today we're starting a new unit. Self-defence!" Coach bellows. "Today I'm going to be teaching a few basic moves and later on in the week we are going to have a proper instructor come in and show us the ropes. First of all, is there anyone in here that knows any kind of fighting techniques?"

I instantly put my hand up and out of the corner of my eye I see a blond put their hand up too – Jace. The coach doesn't look surprised that Jace put his hand up but when he sees me he unconsciously raises his eyebrows. I roll my eyes. Even though I beat Jace earlier, he still sees me as little. Idiot.

"Fairchild, what type of fighting skills do you know?" He asks me.

"Types." I say.

"Okay, what _types_ of fighting do you know?" He asks over-pronouncing types.

"Savate, Taekwondo, Kalarippayattu, Aikido, Jujitsu, Muay Thai and about eleven other types of martial arts." I say as I don't want to list all of them.

"Well, you and Lightwood," He inclines his head toward Jace. "Can be partners today. As you are both skilled, I'll leave you to it. Do whatever you want to each other just try not to kill the other one because I'd rather not have to scrape your mangled bodies off the floor of my gym." He says seriously. Is he joking? I don't think I want to know. "The rest of you get into girl-boy partners. We're doing it Co-ed."

"Coach?" Jace shouts.

"Yes, Lightwood."

"Don't you think it's a bit unfair putting Fairchild here with me. I'm not going to hit her." He says.

Before coach can say anything, I jump in. "Why? Are you afraid that if you hurt me I'll hurt you more? Because you should be."

"See, Lightwood it's perfectly fine now leave me alone and go do your thing!" He commands.

Jace grumbles something inaudible but follows me anyway as I walk over to a large mat in the far corner of the gym.

We both get into a fighting stance but whereas mine is faultless after years and years of perfecting, Jace has issues. His knees are locked too tightly together and his hand isn't guarding his face well enough. "You need to guard you face better; bring your left elbow up more." I command him

"I think I can do it well enough, thank-you-very-much." He says gruffly.

"Stop being such a stubborn moron and take my advice. I've been doing this since I was three so if you actually want to even have a chance at winning, you'll take my advice."

"You won't win." He says knowingly.

"And why is that?" I ask tauntingly.

"Because you're a girl." He says it like that's the most obvious reason in the world.

"You sexist son of a bitch!" I say attracting the attention of a few people.

"It is true." Jace says with that pathetic smirk on his face.

"Dickhead." I spit angrily at him.

"Clary, look at you. You're too weak. You won't be able to beat me."

"I apologise in advance for the damage I do to you." I say as seriously as I can.

Jace scoffs which just makes me angrier.

"On the count of three?" He asks, I nod. "1… 2… 3!"

Jace attacks first, swinging at my head. I easily block his punch and kick him in his stomach. He looks winded but carries on. Jace attempts to knock my feet from under me but I jump up before he can and somersault over him, I then elbow him with as much force as possible in the back of his head. He stumbles and I take this to my advantage as I kick one of his knees. His legs give out beneath him and he falls to the floor. Too angry to stop, I keep punching, kicking, elbowing Jace who is in a crumpled heap on the floor. I don't notice anything or anyone around me, through my anger-tinted vision I can only see Jace – the person who just called me weak. I don't notice the screaming of my name until one voice bellows my name.

"CLARISSA ADELE FAIRCHILD!"

I spin around to see Jonathan staring at me.

"WHAT?" I snap at him.

"What the hell do you think you are doing to my best friend?" He asks outraged.

"WHAT THE-"Then it hits me what he means – Jace. I turn around to look at the bruised and bleeding boy on the mat in front of me. Oh my god! I did that. I lost control. I just kept hitting and hitting and _hitting_. Just like _he_ always used to. "I-"My voice got stuck in my throat and before I could say anything a pair of arms came and scooped me up. I looked up to see Jon looking down at me worriedly. "I-I don't know h-how i-it h-happened, J-Jon!"

"I know, Clary. I know. I'm going to take you to the car and then we can talk about it, okay?" I nod my head not trusting myself to speak.

The last thing I remember is me repeating 'I'm sorry' over and over again. Then the world went black.

_**JACE POV:  
**_Pain. An insurmountable amount of pain. Every inch of my body is in complete utter agony. Wherever her fists or feet or elbows or knees have hit me is throbbing. I can't see straight. I feel like I'm being lifted off of the ground but I can't really tell. All I can detect is the pain. A never ending infinity of pain threatening to take me over. And I let it.


	6. Let's talk?

_**DAMAGED GOODS – CHAPTER 6 – Let's Talk?**_

_**JON POV:  
**_Glancing at my baby sister who is curled up in a ball on the back seat of the car, I can't help but completely forget the earlier events of today where she told me that she didn't need me. Her words affected me more than I'd let anyone know. However, I can now tell that she will soon realise, if she hasn't already, that she does need somebody, maybe me - anyone. She looks so peaceful when she is asleep like all the walls that she built around herself over the years aren't really there. When she's asleep it's like seeing her for how she really is – a vulnerable girl. She builds her walls so high that no one can climb them, but that won't stop me from trying. Whenever I think I've nearly made it, she always builds them just that little bit higher so she won't let me in. This time it's different, I can tell. She's never lost control like that before. Clary has a temper but she never beats anybody to a pulp without a valid reason. I don't think it was anything that Jace had said which made her snap; I think it was the idea that she had lost the one person she cared for most – me. As much as she would try to deny it, Clary does have her weaknesses and I'm always there to help her through even if she doesn't notice it. Just like always, I'll help her through this and she'll come out stronger, like she always does. Because she is a fighter. Because she can get past anything. Because she will always, no matter what happens, have me to guide her through the darkest times.

I love Clary so much, I just wish that this time she will let her walls come down that little bit and let me in.

As I pull into our drive, I hear Clary whimper in her sleep. The poor girl. She's been through too much and I would gladly have swapped places with her. If I had the chance, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Shutting my door, I walk round to where my sister is lying on the back seat and carefully pick her up trying not to hit her with anything. Unconsciously, Clary buries her head further into my chest like she's hiding from something. If she's having another nightmare, which is very likely, than she probably is hiding from something, someone – _him. _Our father was a sickening repulsive man who should be burning in hell right about now. It's only what he deserves.

Making sure she doesn't wake up, I open the front door and head towards the living room to lay Clary down on the sofa. I don't know how Jace is doing so I should probably text Izzy or someone. I pull my phone out my pocket and text Izzy, she replies almost instantly.

_Hey Iz. How's Jace? -J_  
He's ok. Nothing broken. He's just pissed that a girl beat him up! -I  
_I did warn him. -J_  
About what? -I  
_Clary! That she would be able to kick his ass! -J_  
Oh right. Me & her r gonna b besties! -I  
_She doesn't really do 'friends' Iz -J_  
NONSENSE! -I  
_Its true Izzy -J_  
Make her want friends then Jon. –I  
_Whatevr. I g2g Izzy –J_  
K, ttyl. –I

"Jonathan, is that you?" Mum calls from up the stairs. "I heard someone come in."

"Yeah, Mum, it's me." She skips down the stairs like a six year old girl and then comes into the lounge where Clary is asleep. When mum looks at Clary's sleeping form, a frown appears on her face.

"She never sleeps this early. What happened, Jon?" I sigh and then start to explain what happened today.

"We had a fight at lunch because I was trying to look out for her and she was eaves dropping on the conversation that I was having with the person I was trying to protect her from and she thought that I wasn't helping her; I was just getting in the way and interfering in things I shouldn't." I take a breath and Mum gestures for me to carry on. "I offered to help her, y'know with everything and then she got even more pissed-"

"Language!" Mum scolds me and I roll my eyes.

"She got even more _annoyed _and then said that she needed nobody. The usual. After that we had Gym and she's in my class. We were doing some self-defence and because she already knows everything, coach sent her to work with some guy that also knew stuff. This guy just happens to be the one I was trying to protect her from. Anyways, she and he started off fighting and Clary lost control. It was like she didn't even know what she was doing but she just wouldn't stop hitting him. Everybody was shouting at her but it was like she couldn't hear anything. It was scary, Mum. How she just completely zoned out. When I managed to stop her and get her out of the gym she kept muttering something over and over again, I couldn't understand what she was saying though. Then just before we got to the car, she fell unconscious." I look at Mum to see what she is thinking but her expression is unreadable.

"Is Jace okay?" She asks, still looking at her daughter. _What?_

"How the fu-"She cuts me off again.  
"Language!" Again, I roll me eyes.  
"How do you know I was talking about Jace?" I ask her sceptically.  
"Because I'm your mother and I have psychic abilities." She says dead serious. I bet Dad called her.  
"Dad called you, didn't he?" I ask her.  
"Nope!" She says popping the 'p'. Maybe she does have psychic abilities.  
"Okay, then. How do you know?" I ask my mother.  
"Luke _texted_ me." Well played, mother. Well played.  
"That's the same as calling and we're getting off subject – back to Clary. Y'know your daughter who is currently lying unconscious on the sofa."

"Oh, right! Well Luke is probably going to have to talk to her and she'll probably get a detention or something, right?" I nod. "I don't think there is really anything to worry about. She's just having a bad day and the pressure of moving to a new school may have got to her. And if you two had a bit of a fight, she might have been feeling a bit emotional." Mum says.

"Or PMS-ing." I mumble but Mum obviously hears me because she glares at me. I mutter an apology. I don't believe any of this but if it makes Mum feel better than I'll go along with it.

"You make sure that Clary is okay. Okay?" I nod. Of course I will. I'm not just going to leave her here and then go out to a club or something! It annoys me how just because we had an argument, my mother assumes that I'm pissed. She's my sister for god's sake I'm never going to leave her! Great, now I sound like I'm PMS-ing! "I'm going to go get some art supplies and Luke should be home in about two hours. There is some salad and other stuff in the fridge if you want that. I'll be back shortly after Luke is. Love you two, I'll see you later." Mum kisses me on the forehead and then heads out to go get paint or whatever.

I'm lost in my thoughts until I hear Clary speak, her voice thick with sleep.

"Jon? What happened?" I quickly go and sit on the couch where Clary is and she moves her legs so I can sit down.

"Clary, you don't remember?" She shakes her head. I sigh. "In gym do you remember what you did?"

"I-it's all a blur." She says shakily.

"You and Jace were fighting." I state.

"I remember that." Clary says quietly

"Do you remember anything after that?" I ask her softly, she shakes her head again. "Okay. Well when you and Jace were fighting you kind of lost control. You just wouldn't stop. Then when I got you to stop, I took you out to the car and before we got there, you passed out"

"Oh." That's all she says. Nothing more. Unexpectedly, Clary climbs onto my lap and hugs me so tight I can barely breathe. It's like she's afraid that if she lets go that I'll be gone. Clary rarely hugs people or does any kind of physical show of affection. After a couple of minutes of sitting like this - with her small arms wrapped around my body and her head buried in my chest – I try to peel her off but she just tightens her hold on me. I sigh.

"Clary, we need to talk about what happened today." She makes a sound but still doesn't move. "Come on Clary, look at me." She shakes her head. I gently grip her chin and pull her face up to look at me. I'm shocked at what I see. Her eyes are glassy like she's holding in tears and her lower lip is trembling. She's trying not to cry. Clary never cries. She doesn't move her arms but now Clary is looking me in the eyes with a heart breaking expression. "Oh, Clare-bear," I wrap my arms around her small frame and pull her close. I don't know how long we sit there, it could be seconds, minutes or hours. All I'm aware of is my baby sister in my arms. Neither of us say anything and if either of us try to move, the other just pulls them back. Surprisingly, it's Clary who speaks first.

"I don't know what I'd do without you, Jon." She whispers.

"I don't know what I'd do if this world didn't have you in it, Clary. You're the most beautiful person, inside and out, that I've ever met. You just don't realise it. You are the best sister anybody could ask for and even though I know you can't say it back, I love you. So much. I'd do anything for you, Clary." I tell her and it is the complete truth.

We stay locked in each other's arms for a little while longer before Clary wriggles out of my arms. I close my eyes, thinking that she's just going to leave like she always does in times like this. But I don't hear any footsteps. So I open my eyes and Clary is standing there looking at me expectantly.

"Are you coming or what?" She asks, her voice wavering a little bit. I shoot up off the couch and she gives a nervous laugh. Slowly, we walk to the stairs. "I wanted to show you that I'm sorry and I'm not really good with words so I thought I'd show you in a song. Even though those are words, but still…" She trails off and I nod in understanding. Clary never has been great at voicing her emotions. The only way she can really show what she is feeling is through her artwork or music. I've always found it interesting how Clary can just pick up an instrument and choose a song that shows exactly how she is feeling without thinking about it. It's fascinating.

Half way up the stairs I swing Clary over my shoulder. She slaps my back attempting to get me to let her down but it's obvious she doesn't really care because if Clary wanted she could have gotten off within a second of me picking her up. "Where to, Miss. Fairchild?" I ask in a posh British accent. She giggles a bit before responding.

"You do know that your English accent is really crap, right?" I'm wounded how she could say such a thing.

I carry on with my AMAZING British accent. "A fine young lady like you should not use such words like that. Who taught you such foul words?"

"My dumbass brother," She says and I glare at her. Rolling her eyes, Clary decides to play along. "Mr. Garroway if you would be so kind to escort me to the music room." I laugh at her.

Giving up on the accent I say, "Wow! And you said my accent was bad!" She pokes her tongue out at me and I chuckle. Clary gets off me as we get onto her floor. I'm the only one she lets come up here often. Of course mum and dad have been up here, it's just that Clary wasn't exactly comfortable with them being there. Whereas with me, she's fine. When we enter her music room, Clary pulls out a foldable chair and place it near the piano. She sits on her piano stool and looks at me nervously. Clary doesn't realise how good she is when she's singing, she has no reason to be nervous. I think she's more nervous of the fact that I might not like it.

"Clary, you're amazing." She nods and starts playing. Her hands expertly and gracefully dance over the keys. I can recognise the song as Talk, by Coldplay.

"_Oh brother I can't, I can't get through  
I've been trying hard to reach you, cause I don't know what to do  
Oh brother I can't believe it's true  
I'm so scared about the future and I wanna talk to you  
Oh I wanna talk to you_

_You can take a picture of something you see  
In the future where will I be?  
You can climb a ladder up to the sun  
Or write a song nobody has sung  
Or do something that's never been done,"_

Clary closes her eyes, her hands still moving over the keys creating a stunning melody.

"_Are you lost or incomplete?  
Do you feel like a puzzle, you can't find your missing piece?  
Tell me how do you feel?  
Well, I feel like they're talking in a language I don't speak  
And they're talking it to me_

_So you take a picture of something you see  
In the future where will I be?  
You can climb a ladder up to the sun  
Or write a song nobody has sung  
Or do something that's never been done  
Do something that's never been done,"_

She takes a deep breath and continues, pouring everything she has into the last verse.

"_So you don't know where you're going, and you wanna talk  
And you feel like you're going where you've been before  
You tell anyone who'll listen but you feel ignored  
Nothing's really making any sense at all  
Let's talk, let's ta-a-alk  
Let's talk, let's ta-a-alk,"_

I smile at her and she returns it. "Let's talk?" I ask.

She give a small laugh. "Sure."

"So," We both say it at the same time. "You go first." We say in unison. I take a breath and then start. "Okay, so at lunch. I know you think that I wasn't helping you but I was. In my own way. Jace doesn't care about girls, he uses them for a good time and then leaves them broken. I didn't want to see you like that. Jace was looking at you like you were his prey or something. I don't want you to get hurt by him-"

"I'm not even remotely interested in him."

"I know but Jace can be… very persuasive. If he wants something he can be so charismatic and will put on a show to try and make a girl fall for him. I didn't want you to be one of those girls. So, I told him to back off. He may be my best friend but he is a complete ass to girls. That's my side and now it's your turn."

She takes a breath before speaking. "I'm not ever going to fall for his charms, Jon. Never. I don't want a relationship of any kind, physical or emotional. It just pissed me off how you underestimated me and thought I'd be too weak to be able to resist his oh-so-mighty charms. And then you start telling the person who supposedly 'wants me' that I'm freaking fragile! What the fu-"

I cut her off. "Language!"

"You sound like Mum." She mutters and I smirk. Clary takes another breath to calm herself. "I don't know and I didn't mean what I said. I couldn't live without you. I don't know it was just the heat of the moment or some crap like that. But, I do need you to help me when I can't do it myself. It's just that I don't want to have help because it's a sign of weakness." She groans in frustration.

"Admitting that you need help is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength. Only the strongest people really know when to admit defeat. And you are one of those strongest people, Clary."

"That's a load of BS! Did you get that from the internet or something? STRONG PEOPLE DON'T SHOW WEAKNESS!" Clary starts clenching and unclenching her fists. Slowly, I walk over to her and grab her hands, unwinding the fists she has made. We both sit cross-legged on the carpeted floor. "It's just that I don't know what I would do without you because you're always there when I need you and I don't know if I would be able to survive without having that person there."

"You're never going to have to worry about that, Clary. I will always be there for you." Looking into her eyes, I tell her this.

"You'll never abandon me?" She asks so quietly I almost don't hear her.

"I'll always be here for you when you need me."

"Do you promise?"

"Of course, Clary. I promise that I will always be here for you and that I will never abandon you, no matter what happens. Nothing can come between me and my baby sister."

"I'm not a baby." She points out.

"No, you're not but you always will be my baby sister to me." I say with a smile.

"I really am sorry about what I said, Jon. It's not true. It's just that I was, it's just, I don't know… I was…"

"PMS-ing?" I suggest. She throws a guitar pick at me and I smirk.

"You're an idiot, Jon!" She says playfully.

"Ah, but so are you."

"Am not." She says.

"Are too."

"Am not!"

"Are too!" Before she can say it again, I interject. "We are so not doing that. How old are we, five?" She pouts and I kiss her forehead. I then stand up and make my way to the door. "I'll make some dinner, okay?"

"Okay. And Jon?"

"Yes?"

"How is Jace?"

I smirk. "He's fine really, just a quite a few, well a lot, of bruises. He's just pissed that a girl beat him up!"

She smirks as well. "Well, his ego needed to take a few hits. It's so big I am genuinely amazed that it can fit through any doorway!"

"Agreed. And Clary please try and make friends. Promise me you'll at least try."

She sighs before saying: "I will try to make friends but only because you want me to. I don't want or need friends. They only get in the way and piss me off. But if you want me to, then I will try. However, I'm not promising that there'll be any positive outcomes."

I nod and head downstairs feeling like this time Clary is going to be different. I feel like this time she's changed. This time, I might be able to get my baby sister back. I smile at this thought.


	7. Apologies

_**DAMAGED GOODS – CHAPTER 7 – Apologies**_

_**Jace POV:  
**_Groaning, I smack the infuriating piece of crap known as the alarm clock. I smirk when I hear the sound of its beeping slowly dissipate after it has fallen on the floor. 1:0 to Jace! Suck that, alarm clock! Sluggishly, I climb out of my bed and stand up only to be hit with a wave of nausea. After standing there for a minute or two, the dizziness subsides. I can't help but think one thing – Why is my sister not screaming at me? I'm actually missing our morning ritual of trying to piss each other off to the end of the earth. Walking towards my dresser, I put too much weight on one foot and go stumbling into it. Looking down at my ankle I see an angry yellow blue covering it. WTF? Then the events of yesterday come flooding back.

When I survey my flawless body for any damage that the tiny red head could have done, I am pleasantly surprised that the worst injury is my ankle; it's definitely not broken, hopefully it is just sprained. The rest of my body is peppered with small bruises that should be gone within the next couple of days. Thank the Angel! My right eye is slightly swollen and is blossoming into a very attractive shade of blue. How could such a tiny person do this much damage so effortlessly? My pride has definitely taken a hit from this. Not that I'd let anybody know that.

Slowly and cautiously, I get dressed. Like usual, I have a plain top and jeans on. Realising that I'm probably late for school, I check the alarm clock that should be right… Oh, that would be the alarm clock that is mow lying deceased next to my bed. I'll just check my phone then. 07:50. that leaves me with at least ten minutes until we have to leave. Well might as well make use of that small amount of time. I jump straight onto my bed and land face first in a start position. I sigh contentedly at the soft-

"GET YOUR ASS OFF THAT BED NOW!" So much for peace and quiet. Instead of responding with a very sarcastic comment, I just flip my sister off. "Jace," She says a lot softer now. "Are you okay because you looked like absolute crap yesterday and I'm worried 'cause you are never up early. Are you sure you're okay to go to school because if you aren't okay then you should stay-"

"Iz," I say stopping her because I'm not familiar with this kind and caring Isabelle in the morning. It's giving me the creeps. Why isn't she screaming at me? I'd be much more comfortable if she was. "I feel absolutely fine." As an afterthought I add, "Thanks for asking though."

"That's okay, Jace. You know I love you, right? I know I have a weird way of showing it but I do love you, bro." She says sincerely.

"Um… okay. And I love you too, Iz. You're my favourite sister."

She scoffs. "That's because I'm your only sister, dumbass!" Ah, there's the Izzy we know and love. "So…" She draws out the 'o'. "How does it feel like to have your ass beaten by a girl? A tiny little girl, might I add." I groan and I can just imagine the idiotic smirk on Isabelle's face. Before I can find a sarcastic retort though, she stops me. "I'm picking up Simon today and Alec is coming with me. I don't trust you not to be mean to my boyfriend so Jon is picking you up in," She glances at her watch. "Five minutes. Oh, and Clary is coming with you guys because her bike is still at school from yesterday."

After gym, all of yesterday is a bit of a blur. Letting my curiosity get better of me I ask: "How come she didn't drive it home yesterday?"

Izzy's expression morph into a surprised one. "You really don't remember much of yesterday, do you Jace?" Shaking my head, I get up from my position on my bed and sit on the edge. "Well, after Jon was able to get Clary off of you she kinda broke down and couldn't handle anything and passed out so Jon took her home."

"Wait, so she started crying because she kicked this person's," I gesture at me. "Fine ass? I can understand though, she is depriving people of my good looks." I finish.

"I never said anything about crying, just that she broke down. When I and Jon talked late last night, he said that, as far as he knows, she has never cried. Not that that is important. But to your question, basically yes."

So, Clary had a break down because she beat me up. Why? It wasn't like it really affected her in any way. Thinking about it, why did she literally kick my ass so I was on the verge of unconsciousness? I don't recall saying anything that required a reaction like that. I ponder over the many different reasons for her attack and decide that it was probably just that she was letting all her frustration out on me. To be honest, I don't even care about what she did. Weird, right? Normally, if this was any other person I would make their lives a living hell. However, I don't want to do that with Clary. It's not just the fact that she's my best friend's sister; I don't really know what it is about her. But after knowing her for less than a day, I am absolutely sure that I want to learn more about her. She obviously has secrets and I want to be the one to discover what they are. I hadn't even realised that Izzy had left my room until the sound of a car honking its horn met my ears.

Clary is a puzzle and I am a sucker for puzzles. Especially very complicated ones like she is.

Mission Red commences.

_**CLARY POV:  
**_To say I am nervous about seeing Jace would be the understatement of the year. Actually, scrap that – understatement of the millennium. I don't even know why I care that I beat him up. Normally, I feel no need to apologise to anyone I've attacked, even if it was unprovoked. In my whole life, I think I've said 'sorry' seven times, definitely less than ten times have I ever spoke that word. I feel no need to apologise for my actions most of the time and I will only ever say sorry if I really do mean it or if I was definitely at fault. However, I feel the need to apologise to Jace.

Hearing a door slam, I look to my right to see Jace walking down his driveway. At first sight, he looks absolutely fine but when I take a closer look I can see that he has a swollen eye and a bruise beneath it. Except from that and his slight limp, he looks normal. But, of course, there must be bruises all over him that _I_ put there.

Carelessly, he throws his bag into the back seat next to me.

"Admiring my good looks, Red?" He asks cockily as Jon starts the car.

"You wish." He scoffs. "So Red, you got any other people you wanna beat to a pulp for no apparent reason today? Or shall we just use me as your boxing bag seeming as you had so much fun yesterday with me." His voice comes out cold and by the look on his face I'm not sure if he meant for his voice to be full of such hatred or not. Stop! I scold myself. Of course he hates me, who wouldn't after what an amazing job of kicking his ass I did.

"Well, Blondie if you could actually put up a fight then maybe…" I trail off when I see Jon in the mirror glaring, warning me to stop what I was saying. "Okay. Well, I know what I did yesterday was wrong all-"

"You think?" He all but shouts.

"Shut up!" I say angrily. "As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted by some dumbass, what I did was wrong but I couldn't control myself. And so now I am trying to apologise but I am finding it really hard to say sorry to some egotistical jerk like you who does not deserve to be apologised to. However because my brother insisted… So, I'm sorry for what I did to you yesterday. You will probably never hear me say that to you ever again because I never apologise unless I really mean, right Jon?" It's true. If I say sorry, I rarely mean it, only say it so that people will piss off.

"It's true. In my whole life she has only said sorry, and meant it, twice to me. Take it now, this is a rare occurrence." Jon backs me up.

"Fine." Jace says shortly.

"What?" Jon asks confused.

"I accept your apology, Red."

"I didn't really care whether you did or didn't, Blondie." I say.

"Ah, now that is where you are wrong. Every girl craves my approval and attention. You, my dear, is no different from all those girls; in time you shall succumb to my charms." Jace says. I scoff at this.

I decide to tell him what I think of people like him. "Guess what, I'm not like all of your sluts. I do not like you, in fact, I detest you. I hate the way how you use girls like they are toys, how you make them love you and then you break their hearts like it means nothing to you. I hate that you think you're superior to everyone. You are an excuse of a human. Get your act together or you will never survive in this bitch called life. What you've done to all those girls is going to come back and bite you in the ass one day. But don't worry, I'll be there to record it when that day comes. I don't have any pity for all those girls though, they were stupid enough to get involved with someone like you."

Jace was gaping at me for a second before he recovered himself and put on his trade mark smirk – the one that made me want to constantly punch him.

"How the hell can you say that about someone you met less than 24 hours ago? You don't know one thing about me." He says calmly but with an undercurrent of hidden anger.

Before I can respond, Jon stops an argument from happening by saying: "Man, I told you she's perceptive. Now both of you stop acting like such two year olds with the incessant bickering."

"Stop acting like you're my parent, Jon." I say looking at him in the mirror.

"Clary," He says. "Remember what you said yesterday. Remember what you promised me. Remember what you admitted to me and that is why I'm acting like a parent." He is talking about our little heart-to-heart yesterday where he made me promise to try and make friends.

"Fine." I huff. "But you don't have to be such a party pooper about it." I cross my arms over my chest and look out the window for the rest of the journey to school.

My first four lessons went by as expected. I tried to piss off the teachers as much as I can and they all threatened to send me to the big bad scary principal. However none of them actually did as they figured out that it wasn't going to make any difference. Jace was constantly flirting with me and I was constantly insulting him by the just kept at it. I've got to admit he is quite stubborn with his efforts. _Almost_ as stubborn and persistent as me. Isabelle, or Izzy, as she insisted I call her asked me to sit with her brothers and friends at lunch which I presume includes Jon. Just to appease Jon, I accepted her offer and now we are on the way to the cafeteria. I think Izzy is talking about a Prada handbag or something.

"…brother gave you a STD?"

"Wait, what?" I ask a bit confused as I really wasn't listening to a word she was saying.

"I said that you and my brother already know each other. You and him hooked up?"

"God no! That vile excuse of a… brother?" I say thinking that I must have misheard her.

"Yes, Jace is my brother." She states simply.

"OMFG! How do you live with that sexist womanizing pig? I would say I'm sorry for talking about your brother that way but I wouldn't mean it so I'm not going to." She laughs a little bit before responding.

"I agree with you. Your description is very accurate. But he isn't too bad when you get to know him." Yeah, sure. He is insufferable.

Realising that they don't share any of the same features, I ask bluntly, "Adopted?"

Izzy seems a bit surprised at my straight forwardness. "Yeah. He's been through a lot." I scoff mentally, then Izzy raises an eyebrow at me. Maybe it wasn't a mental scoff. "What?" She asks.

"He's been through a lot?" I ask.

"Yeah, both of his parents dies when he was young and we took him in."

Under my breath so Isabelle can't hear I say: "Lucky him at least he didn't have a psychopathic parent."

She just carries on. "He's had too much pain for one person. I mean, losing both parents must be the worst thing in the world to happen."

Angrily, I snap at her. "Believe me, it's not." I'm clenching and unclenching my fists to keep the anger at bay.

"Meaning?" She asks.

"Nothing. It means nothing." I sigh and follow Isabelle over to a table where a few people are sitting at, including Jon. He smiles largely at me as he notices me coming over. I roll my eyes and mouth 'you owe me'. It's now his turn to roll his eyes. When I attempt to sit next to my brother, Izzy pulls me into the space in between her and Simon. She then proceeds to introduce me to the four people even though I've met most of them and one of them is my brother.

"Guys, this is Clary. You've met most of these idiots, but I don't think you have met Magnus yet, have you?"

"Wait, let me guess. He is… Alec's boyfriend?" I ask.

Izzy squeals. "OMG! Are you psychic? How do you know Alec is gay?"

Alec, who has been quiet until now decides to join in the conversation "Yeah, how do you know he's my boyfriend?"

"She's perceptive." Says an annoyingly familiar voice from behind me. I turn around to see Jace standing there smirking at me. I groan quite loudly. This causes his smirk to grow, does he enjoy seeing me pissed off or something? "Red, scooch. I need to sit down."

I look at him incredulously. "There are three people on this side of the table and only two over there."

"Yes, but I thought I would let you have the pleasure of the amazing me sitting beside you."

To stop an argument, Izzy just stands up and sits beside Alec. Jace then slides in to the right of me so he is in the middle. "Anyways, so where is this Mag-"

"HELLO MY DARLINGS! HOW ARE YOU ALL?" Boomed someone from half way across the cafeteria who was heading towards us. So I guess this is Magnus, he is… Extravagant? Magnus is wearing tight black leather trousers and a very bright top. His black hair which is highlighted with blue sticks up in all different directions. He is really nailing the mad scientist look. His eyes have a cat like resemblance. The very glittery Magnus picks up a stool and brings it over to the table and sits down, crossing his legs. He scans over the group and his eyes come to rest on me. "Clarissa." He states simply.

"Aren't you clever." I say sarcastically. Jace and Jon snigger while Magnus just smiles at me as if he's approving of me.

"We'll keep her." Magnus says like I'm a pet or something.

"I'm not a fu-reaking dog. I am not kept." I say calmly, trying not to let my temper get the better of me.

"I like you, Biscuit." He says and then turns to talk to his boyfriend. Biscuit? Wow, just wow.

The next half of lunch goes as well as possible with me trying to stay out of conversations and then Jon annoyingly including me in them. I'm watching Jace and Simon squabble over something when Jace says something: "It's for you own good."

I feel the colour drain from my face. This shouldn't affect me but the way he said it, Jace sounded exactly like him. Valentine always used to say that to me before he did something terrible. Every time, those were the words Valentine used - it's for you own good. Damn it, Clary! Pull yourself together. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. I repeat this so I don't start hyperventilating. It takes a good few minutes for me to come back to my senses and when I do I see six pairs of eyes looking at me with concern. I turn to look at Jon, who seems very worried.

"Clare, are you okay?" I nod, not trusting myself to speak right now. "Was it…?" I know what he means, he's asking whether it was about Valentine. I swallow before I speak.

"Yeah. I think I'm going to go, I'm not feeling great." The others all nod but Jon shakes his head. My brother then walks around the table to me and glances at Simon who then moves to sit next to his girlfriend. Jace moves over a bit so Jon can sit by the side of me. He looks closely at me. "Do you want to rest for a bit? We've got about 30 minutes left of lunch." He asks.

"Mm-hm. I'll go outside or-"He stops me from talking any further by pulling me onto his lap. I give him a small laugh and he wraps his arms around me so I'm more comfortable. I look up to him. "Jon, I'm not going to go asleep in the middle of a cafeteria full of people."

"That's a good thing that our table is on the edge then, isn't it?" I shake my head but comply. The others have resumed their conversations but I can see out of the corner of my eye that they're all giving me concerned or curious side glances. I close my eyes and even out my breathing, like I've been taught to, so Jon thinks I'm asleep. He rests his chin on my head. Excuse me! I am not a table that you can lean on, you ass!

Surprisingly, Jace is the first to speak to Jon. "She okay? She looked like crap." Gee, thanks, asshole.

"She'll be fine. That just happens sometimes." Jon tells them.

"What exactly did happen?" Izzy asks curiously.

"It was nothing, really. It's just that sometimes she remembers things from when she was younger and kind of gets caught up in it, I guess." Jon says. Clever move, bro. Make it sound like I'm normal, good save.

"Then why did she look scared?" I clench my fist to stop from doing something that will alert to the fact that I'm awake.

"More like petrified." Alec commented.

Jon seems stumped at this so I decide to come to my own rescue. Attempting to look like I just woke up, I yawn and slowly let my eyes flutter open. Jon lifts his chin of my head and I crawl off his lap to sit next to him and lay my head on his shoulder. "You okay?" He asks tentatively. I nod and smile. At that moment the bell goes off. I grab my bag and start walking to my next lesson. Jace comes to walk with me to music and then turns to look at me with a genuine smile on his face.

"You were awake and eaves dropping on our little conversation, weren't you?" He says still smiling at me.

"Why would you say that?" I ask innocently.

"Because I saw you clench your fist when I said you were scared." He says smugly.

"It's not eaves dropping if you could see me."

With that I walk to my next lesson leaving a very amused Jace in the hallway.


	8. Cliche Quizzing & Unexpected Answers

_**DAMAGED GOODS – CHAPTER 8 – Cliché quizzing & unexpected answers**_

_**Clary POV: **_  
"Okay, class quiet down!" Mrs. Blackthorn shouted. The chatter in the class room reduced to hushed whispers between small groups. "Today we are starting a new project that should last for quite a few months. You'll be working in partners-"Before she could continue, the class erupted, talking loudly and excitedly figuring out who they would pair up with. I, on the other hand, is doing nothing. I'm sitting here observing. "Quiet!" The teacher bellows. Slowly, the volume of the class dies down and she continues. "Fortunately, I have taken the liberty to assign you your partners so you do not have to decide for yourself." This ignited a chorus of moans and groans from everybody. "None of that now. So here are your partners." She proceeds to call off the names and I don't even bother to listen for my name because whoever I'm paired with can move their sorry ass over to me as I am definitely not moving to them.

When she finishes the list, everybody has moved to sit with their partner. The only other person sitting by themselves is… HELL NO! Jace Lightwood is looking directly at me, smirking, as usual. I wipe my face of all emotion and then smirk back at him. As much as I detest Jace, this could actually be quite fun. This is the perfect opportunity to piss him off as much as I can. From the look on his face, I think my new music partner is thinking the exact thing as me. We stare into each other's eyes and neither of us is willing to look away. He is not moving; I am not moving. I hear our teacher sigh dramatically.

"Clarissa would you please move to sit with Mr. Lightwood?" She asks politely.

I don't even look at her when I respond. "No can do. I'm pretty sure that Lightwood has legs though."

She sighs again. "Jace, could you please move?" Jace just shakes his head, not breaking eye contact. After about another minute of intense glaring/staring, Jace stood up, grabbed his stuff and lazily sauntered over to me. I smirked again thinking about how I just won against him in a battle of will. Might I add, how I won _again?_ "So this project will involve you working very closely with your partner and can I just say that there is no swapping or changing of partners unless you want an eternity of detentions. This project is simply called Love." Oh great, this is just freaking perfect. "To complete this project and achieve your grades, you are going to have to put a lot of effort in. Basically, the whole project is centred on love and companionship and in your pairs you have to show through music what it means to love and be loved. As you can all see, you all have a partner of the opposite sex. You will have to write three songs. One will be a duet and you have to write it together. The other two songs are to be written individually – one song by the boy, the other by the girl. The songs do have to be sung and have to have an instrument to accompany it. Today you are going to start off by getting to know your partner. You have a quiz to do and it will have to be finished as homework because we don't have long left. You have to do the quizzes in person, not by phone." Oh, yay for me! "Let's get started then!" she shouted animatedly.

Jace turned his head to look at me. "So, Red, you have me all to yourself. How do you feel to have this gloriousness in your presence?"

I snort. "Do you know what? I actually thought you were kind of attractive when I first saw you." I sighed dramatically like I was deep in thought. "But then you just had to open that god forsaken mouth! You ruined it, I guess you really do live up to dyed hair's colour." He looks speechless for a second before he plasters his normal smirk back on.

"Awwww, Red. You know you lov-"I cut him off before he can finish.

"I do not, nor will I ever love you. I don't love anybody so do not say anything that idiotic ever again. Got it? Get it. Good!"

"Geez, Red!" He says putting his hands up in surrender. "I was just messing with you, calm down." He pauses for a second as if he was analysing his next words. "I'm sorry. I really am. I like you and I'm sorry that I made you feel uncomfortable. Friends?" He says it so seriously and I'm shocked by his sudden change in behaviour – complete ass to caring guy. Weird.

"You're bipolar." I mumble but he obviously hears as he chuckles a little bit.

"Pray tell how this wonderfulness is bipolar." He says cockily. I am only a little tiny bit away from punching him right now. No, Clary, be good.

"Well, one minute you're a complete dickhead; the next you're being all sweet and kind of caring. Your personality changes are extreme and happen very quickly. Therefore, you're bipolar." I tell him. He chuckles a bit, I don't think he knows that I am actually being serious.

"Fair enough then. So, do you want to do the quiz now or we can do it at your house tonight."

"Why my house?" I ask.

"Because I'm going round there anyway." I groan knowing that I'm going to have to spend lots of time with this egotistical jerk.

Innocently I say: "Fine, do it later. Right now why don't you go sit somewhere that is very far away from me for the next ten minutes of class so I don't have to put up with you? You're lowering my IQ just by being remotely near me so piss off."

He doesn't hesitate for a second before he answers. "No."

I flip him off and grab my phone and earphones before plugging them in and blasting green day through them.

Because of yesterday, Coach Carstairs just made me and Jace run round the track for the whole hour. Instead of running at my usual pace, I ran beside Jace for the lesson. We talked, well mostly he talked, and our conversation were usually with me trying to piss him off and him just brushing it off. Most guys would have snapped by now, not Jace. After actually having a kind of normal conversation with him, I've realised that he isn't actually as bad as I had initially thought he was. Not that I'd _ever_ let him know that.

Once I am finished getting changes out of my gym clothes, I sprint towards my bike. I missed my baby this morning. It didn't feel right not riding in in it. I may be weird but when I get to my bike I jump onto it and hug it and start whispering sweet nothings to her, or him depends what mood I'm in. Today, it's a her – called Bessie. I didn't realise someone was watching me until they cleared their throat.

"So, Red, you having fun there?" I don't even have to move to recognise that it's Jace. "Anyways, since you're going where I am going, I figured that you will be giving me a lift."

"And why exactly do you think that, Ass?" he smirks.

"Because you don't want to disappoint Jon." Damn! That may be slightly true.

I jump off Bessie and chuck him my spare helmet, and put my own on. I hop back on in the front and he slides in beside me. I start her up and then speed off out of the car park. Once we're out, I race down the roads carelessly at the highest speed I could go without dying. Behind me I can hear Jace screaming at the top of lungs, in a very high pitched girl-like scream. I smirk to myself. When we get back to my house, in record time, I turn around to look at Jace who seems shell shocked. I poke his cheek and he comes out of the trance-like state he was in.

"WHAT THE HELL! YOU COULD HAVE KILLED ME! I AM NEVER GOING ON THAT BIKE WITH YOU AGAIN!" He screams, well that was the point. Now, I won't have to deal with you anymore on my bike. I smirk and waltz into the house. Walking into the kitchen with Jace trailing behind me, I can hear him muttering something inaudible about crazy psychopath redheads. Yup, that would be me. Oreos. I want Oreos. They are on the top shelf, I can't reach the top shelf without climbing on the counter. I guess I'm not having Oreos then because there is no way I am going to embarrass myself by climbing on the counter to get something because I am too short. Noticing my inner battle, Jace, who seems to have recovered from the ride home smirks.

"So, Red. Would you like me to get you the biscuits down as you're too small to reach?" I glare at him which makes him laugh.

"I can reach the Oreos, thank you very much." I defend myself.

"Do you want me to get you the Oreos down and then we can start on the quiz. I promise I'm not going to make fun of you for being shirt," I look at him and he adds. "Shortstuff."

I groan and he reaches for the top shelf and gracefully picks the full packet of Oreos and chucks them down to me.

"So, I'm going to have to suffer with you for this whole project," I say. "And I have a proposal." He encourages me to carry on. "Whilst we are working on anything which is related to this music thing, we have to try and be civil with each other and try not to rip the other's throat out. BTW, this is more for your benefit than mine as I will probably rip your throat out if you continue being such an ass. So, how does that sound?" I ask.

He ponders on his answer for a second. "Y'know that I don't have a problem with you, right? Just 'cause of what happened in Gym yesterday doesn't mean that I don't like you. In fact, I do like you. A lot." My brows furrow. What is he trying to say? Seeing my expression he adds, "Not like that. I just find you interesting and I'd like to get to know you. The real you. Not this cold hearted façade that you put on at school. I want to find out what you are really like and what made you act like this. Why you won't let anyone in. So that's a yes to your idea."

I'm speechless for a second before I find a reasonable thing to say. "Looks like I'm not the only one who's perceptive." The smile he had had falls from his face. What was he expecting? For me to pour my heart out to him. For me to tell him how much I hurt every single day of my life. How I still have nightmares every night. No. I will never let anyone in, he is no exception. "Let's just get started with this quiz."

_**JACE POV:  
**_It seems like my plan to get to know Clarissa Fairchild is going to be needing a bit of an adjustment. She really has built her walls high. Right now she's leading me to their family room. "Red, I know you can sing and play guitar but do you do anything else that will help us ace this project?"

"I play a few other instruments, piano includes. But I can't really sing, I'm not that great." Not that great? She's spectacular! "What about you, do you sing?"

"Erm… I guess. I'm okay, not as good as you. You're amazing. Really, you are." She blushes and I can't help but think about how cute even with her crazy biker clothing she looks when she blushes.

"Thanks?" She says.

"You really don't know how to take a compliment, do you?" I ask.

"I don't exactly have much practice." She mumbles but I can hear. Before I can say something though she speaks again. "So…. Question 1 – What is your full name and what are your parents' names?"

I don't hesitate to tell Clary the truth, I want to know what she'll think of me if she knows a little bit about my childhood. "Jonathan Herondale-Lightwood but I just go by Lightwood. My birth parents were called Stephen and Celine. But my adoptive parents are Robert and Maryse." When I look at her, I see no pity or sympathy in her eyes like most people do when they discover I'm adoptive. She looks like she can understand. "How about you?" I ask.

"Clarissa Adele Mor-" A flash of panic crosses her features. She swallows before speaking. "Fairchild. Parent's name is Jocelyn Garroway and Luke Garroway."

Over all the years that I have known Jon, he has never spoken of their biological father. Whenever I bought up the subject of it, he always found a way out of answering my questions. Curious, I ask her, "What about your birth father?"

"What about him?" She snaps.

"His name?"

"Asshole." She says extremely serious.

"His name is Asshole?" I push.

"As far as I'm concerned, yes." Before I can push her for more answers she says, "Next question."

"Erm…" I consult the sheet. "Favourite colour?"

She laughs. Again, I can't help but think how beautiful and sweet her laugh is. "Really? Favourite colour, can it get any more cliché?" I laugh along with her. "Anyways, I guess mine is… white. Yeah, white." I raise my eyebrows and she carries on. "I just think that it can convey so many emotions and its… innocent and calming. And whenever you see a blank white wall, to me it just looks like a new beginning where all of your baggage can be left behind. But of course life is not like that. The colour white alludes people into a state of serenity and happiness." She blushes realising that she has just said all that about one colour. I have a feeling that the reason she likes it is because it makes her feel safe, from what I do not know. However, I plan to find out what she's running from. "I don't know, it's just a nice colour. What's yours?" She asks.

"Black." I state simply.

"Black? Complete opposites – black and white." She thinks aloud.

"Y'know opposites attract." I smirk at her and she rolls her eyes at my attempt to flirt with her.

"Black isn't actually a colour, Dumbass." She retorts.

"Yes it is."

"Actually, black is not a colour. It's the absence of colour so pick another." She tells me.

I ponder on my answer before saying, "Green. The shade of your eyes. Beautiful."

"Next question, Dumbass."

A packet of Oreos later, we finish the rest of the questions and I think I now know some more about this mysterious person beside me. I think I pretty much know everything that I need to know about Clarissa Fairchild but I don't really know Clary at all. If you know what I mean. All of the questions she answered vaguely and I didn't really get to find out much about the real Clary, but hey it's a start.

"Hey, Red?"

"Yup?"

"How come in all the years I've known Jon why haven't I ever seen you around the house? I mean I'm practically here every day. I eat dinner with you so how do you get food, I don't really understand."

"Well, I guess it's because I've never really felt the need to meet you. It's not like meeting one more person will drastically change my whole life. And as for the food, I have crazy ninja skills." I laugh. Crazy ninja skills? It's probably quite accurate. "So I suspect that you're staying for dinner?" I nod in confirmation. "Well Jon will be back from wherever at any time. Mum and Luke are going to Mum's art gallery opening so I'll cook when Jon gets back." She hesitates before turning to look at me. "Do you want to go up to my music room? Show me what you can play and sing or whatever. I mean we don't have to it was just a suggestion an-"

"It sounds fine. Now stop rambling, it's quite annoying." I say. She rolls her eyes and leads me up to her floor, where I presume her music room is located. We walk into a large room filled with instruments and sheet music. The walls look sound proofed and there's a glass separation which shows a recording studio. Wow. I pick up a piece of sheet music from the floor and scan the notes. "Somewhere over the rainbow? Didn't peg you As a Wizard of Oz kind of girl."

"Anybody who doesn't like Wizard of Oz is out of their mind. I mean 'follow the yellow brick road' for god' sake!" I chuckle.

"Agreed. It is a good movie." She nods in agreement. "Can you play it?"

"Yeah, but…" She trails off, unsure what to say.

"Just play it. Please. I love this song." She shakes her head as a no. I pout and put the puppy dog face on. "Pweeaassee, Cwary?"

She throws her arms up dramatically. "Fine! Just as long as you never speak like that ever again, that was so high pitched. Clary takes a seat by the piano and starts playing the introduction to somewhere over the rainbow. And then the beautiful melody of her voice fills the once boring room.

"Somewhere over the rainbow  
Way up high  
And the dreams that you dreamed of  
Once in a lullaby 

Somewhere over the rainbow  
Blue birds fly  
And the dreams that you dreamed of  
Dreams really do come true ooh oh

Someday I'll wish upon a star  
Wake up where the clouds are far behind me  
Where trouble melts like lemon drops  
High above the chimney tops  
That's where you'll find me

Oh, somewhere over the rainbow bluebirds fly  
And the dream that you dare to,  
Oh why, oh why can't I?

Well I see trees of green and red roses too,  
I'll watch them bloom for me and you  
And I think to myself  
What a wonderful world

Well I see skies of blue  
And I see clouds of white  
And the brightness of day  
I like the dark  
And I think to myself  
What a wonderful world

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky  
Are also on the faces of people passing by  
I see friends shaking hands  
Saying, "How do you do?"  
They're really saying, I...I love you

I hear babies cry and I watch them grow,  
They'll learn much more than we'll know  
And I think to myself  
What a wonderful world world

Someday I'll wish upon a star,  
Wake up where the clouds are far behind me  
Where trouble melts like lemon drops  
High above the chimney top  
That's where you'll find me

Oh, somewhere over the rainbow way up high  
And the dream that you dare to, why, oh why can't I? I?"

"You're amazing." She smiles gratefully. "I am going to see if Jon is back." I run down the stairs and into the living room where Jon is lying on the couch playing… Candy crush saga? He notice me and turns his phone off.

"Hey, bro." He greets me. "Were you with Clary?"

"Yup. We're partners in music and I asked her to play a song for me in her music room a second ago, so she sung it as well." I say.

"She what?!" He asks incredulously.

"What?" I ask slightly confused.

"Did you blackmail her into letting you up there?" I shake my head. "So she willingly let you go onto her floor and into her music room?" I nod. "HOLY CRAP!"

"Seriously, man. What?"

"She never lets anybody but me go in there. Maybe I really have got my baby sister back." HE thinks aloud before turning his attention back to me. "What I said still stands, Jace. Do not hurt Clary. If you do I will break every bone in your body twice and then slit your throat. Understand?"

"Geez, man! Calm it. I have no intention of doing anything to Clary. You have nothing to worry about."

"I know but people make mistakes. Just please don't do anything that could hurt her." I nod.

I would rather die than hurt Clary. Even after knowing her for such a short period of time, I feel some kind of attachment to her. A need to be near her. To protect her. I don't know what this feeling is but it's foreign to me. I really do not have a clue as to what this emotion is. But I do know one thing – I like this feeling. I love how I feel when I'm around Clary and I don't want it to stop. Jon's voice brings me back out of my thoughts.

"You don't know half of the stuff she's been through, Jace. Hell, I don't even know the half of it!" He quietens his voice back to the normal volume. "Jace you don't know what she has had to suffer through. All I know is that it has made her a cold hearted bitch and the only emotion she feels towards other people is either hatred or she just feels nothing."

"Then tell me." He looks at me like I've just said the most stupid thing in the world. "I mean tell me what you know happened. Like you said – she lets nobody up there except you. That's different for me, maybe over time she could trust me. However I don't know how to protect her if I don't know what has happened to her in the past, do I?"

Jon looks surprised when I finish. "You really do like her, don't you?" I nod. "I can see it. The way you look at her it's different than how you look at all your sluts," I'm about to interrupt when he adds. "No offence. You look at her with admiration and respect. And even though you've known her for less than a day, your face lights up when you're near her. I can see it in her as well. She probably doesn't even know it but when you two were talking and laughing in gym, she looked alive again. She looked like the little sister I lost years ago. You bought that out in her and as much as I hate to admit it, you might be good for her."

"So…?" I trail off not sure what to say.

"I'll tell you what I know about Clary. It's not much but it is as much as anybody but her knows." I make a gesture with my hands signalling for him to carry on. "When our mum and dad got a divorce, I said straight away that I was going to live with Mum because even at the age of five, I despised my Father, if you can even call him that. Anyway, Clary who felt sorry for leaving Father alone went to live with him. I saw her every weekend for the first six months after the divorce. I could slowly see her becoming depressed and sad all the time but being the idiot I was, I didn't do anything about it. One day, Clary just stopped coming to see me. The next time I saw her was five years later, when she was ten. Of course we spoke on the phone and everything but that was maybe once a month and never over a ten minute conversation. Then our father died, she saw it all. She saw the man plunge the knife into our father's heart. But when I saw her for the first time in five years, she wasn't the Clary I used to know. Clary was so closed off. She had bruises and cuts and burns scattered all over her body. I think you can guess why I hate my Father. She has nightmares every night but she won't let any of us come and help her. I know for a fact that our Father didn't just brutally abuse her. There is so much more that happened but Clary will never tell me. It hurts her too much to just think about it. Even with our father six feet under the ground, she is still terrified of him. But nobody has ever been able to help her, she has never let anybody. But I think it's different with you, Jace."

I take a few moments for Jon's words to sink in and process them. "What are you trying to say, Jon?"

"I want you to stick by her, if that's not too much to ask." He says.

"Okay…" I scratch my scalp awkwardly. "Well… erm, I think I'm gonna get a drink. And thanks, Jon. For telling me that. Believe me, I will protect her with my life." This seems to appease him. "Oh and Jon?"

"Yeah?"

In an attempt to relieve the tension I say, "What level are you on Candy Crush?"

His face flushes an embarrassed pink colour and I laugh in victory. He is never going to live that down. Jonathan Christopher Garroway the manliest man ever known to the Earth plays Candy Crush. Unbelievable!


	9. Party

_**DAMAGED GOODS – CHAPTER 9 – Party**_

_**Jace POV:  
**_Since me and Clary did that quiz for music, we've become friends or as Clary calls it 'very good acquaintances', she is definitely something special. I know that I definitely have feelings for her but I'm not sure if she reciprocates them; she is able to hide her emotions exceptionally well. Over the other side of the cafeteria, I see my favourite redhead picking up an apple. "Hey, Clary!" I shout and she swivels round to look at me and when she spots me she smiles genuinely. "Come sit with us!" she shakes her head as a no. I'm not having this. "Come on, Red! You're sitting with us, there's no argument!" She rolls her eyes and starts walking over to the doors. Stealthily, I run to where she is and throw her over my back.

"JACE LET ME DOWN!" She screeches. I laugh at her feeble attempts to get me to put her down, she's slapping my back but her heart isn't really in it. Soon, she's laughing with me. In between breaths she says, "You… are so… dead!" I chuckle again and then set her down next to Alec. They're all laughing too. "Jace Lightwood, you are a first class ass!" Clary says playfully.

"Yup." I agree. She rolls her eyes.

"So," Izzy says. "Did you hear about the party tonight?"

"Yeah," I nod. "Isn't it at that weird mysterious Spanish guy's place?" I asks.

"Yup! The hottie Hispanic. Oh, and by the way, the mysteriousness is what makes him hot, he's not weird." She complains.

I put a hand to my heart. "Oh, thy beauteous Isabelle, please forgive me for my error. I am so utterly sorry that I am not a homosexual and therefore I do not understand how being such a creepy mysterious Spanish stalker is 'hot," I put air quotes around the last word. "ISABELLE SOPHIA LIGHTWOOD, I BEG OF FORGIVENESS!" I bellow, attracting the attention of most of the cafeteria. Clary snickers and Izzy sends her a deadly glare. Unfortunately for her, this just makes Clary laugh even more. She flips Clary and I off and we smirk. "You're lucky that rat-boy isn't here. You know how jealous and insecure he is, you calling other guys hot doesn't exactly help. Although I can see why he has self-confidence issues, I mean I would if I looked like that. Oh, and the gamer tees, do not even get me started on them!" I say dramatically, placing a hand on my forehead as if I was about to faint.

"You sound like Izzy, talking about bloody fashion." Alec mutters quite loudly. Clary laughs at his comment and he blushes. Obviously that wasn't meant to be heard. I decide not to say something about Alec's little input there.

"Anyways," Iz says. "Back to the topic of the party. We are all going and we can meet up at Jon and Clary's house because I and Jace will be there anyway." She turns to look at Clary. Oh, I feel for you, Clary. I am so sorry for the torture you will later endure from Isabelle. "Clary, I am getting you ready and you will look HOT!"

Clary groans and whacks her head on the table with a thump sound. That's gotta hurt, hitting your head on the _hard_, _wooden_ table. She shakes her head. "I." Thump. "Am." Thump. "Not." Thump. "Going." Thump. "To." Thump. "A." Thump. "Party!" She whacks her head on the table one last time for good measure.

"Yes you are." Izzy says matter of factly. "And I'm getting you ready." She adds.

"No you are not." Clary challenges. No matter how stubborn and cunning Clary is, she won't be able to get herself out of this. Whenever Izzy finds a new human Barbie, the Barbie is trapped. And, unfortunately, in this case that Barbie just happens to be Clary. However, I would be lying if I said that I wasn't looking forward to see what Clary will be dressed up in for the party. Knowing Izzy, it will be something short – very short – which doesn't leave much to the imagination. For most people it would probably look quite slutty but I bet that on Clary she would just look as beautiful as she always is. Though Clary is beautiful, she is also lethal, you can tell just by taking one glance at her. Beautiful and lethal. A deadly combination. Yet this still doesn't ward me off. God, there's just something about this girl that drives me absolutely crazy! I haven't been able to get her out of my mind since the moment I met her. I try to forget about her by distracting myself with other girls but my thoughts, no matter what, always come back to Clary.

"Clary, if you let me do this I'll give you…" Izzy ponders on her offer for a second. "A no questions asked, anytime, anywhere favour." She smiles brightly at Clary, who is now smiling creepily at Isabelle. It's the kind of smile that psychotic murderers in the movies have.

"I might just have to take you up on that offer." Clary says slyly. Izzy beams and claps her hands loudly.

"Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!" She gushes. "Okay, so Simon, Jace and I will come to your place straight after school and then you can show me your dresses and I'll pick one out for you. Then we can go to the party and meet Mag and Alec there. Sound good?" She asks, we all nod our head in agreement.

"One problem though, Iz." Clary exclaims.

"And that would be…"

"I don't own a dress." Izzy's eyes widen in disbelief and Clary blushes a bit. She looks cute when she blushes, it's like- No, stop! Stop having these thoughts, Jace. I chide to myself

"YOU DON'T OWN A DRESS!?" Iz screams. All heads snap towards the direction of our table. I glance to Clary who is blushing profusely at all the unwanted attention. My raging sister takes three deep breaths to calm herself down. "Well, we are going shopping on the weekend," Another groan from the feisty redhead, followed by a glare from the shopping obsessed Lightwood. "But for tonight you can borrow one of my old dresses." Clary nods her head. "My mum and Dad are away on business for a week, you guys could all stay over for the weekend." She suggests.

Jon, who has been playing – you guessed it – Candy Crush on his phone looks up. "Our Mum and Dad are going to some art thing in Europe, or somewhere, so that sounds good." Clary shakes her head at her brother's comment.

"I need to go somewhere on Friday." She states.

"What do you need to do?" Jon queries. Clary gives him a 'duh look' but he just shakes his head in confusion.

"It's January 10th on Friday, Jon. I just have to." She says like that solves everything. I hate stupid mysterious sibling talk. And apparently so does Jon as he still doesn't understand what his sister is trying to say.

"Why is January 10th so impor-"He cuts himself off as a look of understanding crosses his features. "Right, I understand now," Clary mutters a 'finally' under her breath. Good for you Jon, but I still don't understand! This is frustrating being out of the loop, I hate not knowing things. "You go there, I know it's like your ritual or something." Clary smiles thankfully at her brother.

Izzy eyes the two suspiciously. "The secretive sibling speak," She muses. "Is it quite over now? So, Clary where are you going on Friday?" I am mentally face-palming right now. My sister really does not understand this thing called privacy. Clary looks quite uncomfortable.

"Erm… places?" It comes out more of a question than a statement. Clary really needs to work on her skills of the wonderful art called lying. Izzy huffs but, much to Clary's relief, stops her questioning.

Magnus has been uncharacteristically quiet today, I was just about to query him about it but then a certain little redhead, and short tempered girl beat me to it. What I can say, great minds think alike. "Hey glitter balls, you okay?" She asks softly. Instead of her usual smirk or evil glare on her face, Clary smiling sweetly, and it's genuine, at Magnus and I kind of never thought I'd see this side of her. The caring and concerned side. I guess that Jon was right when he said that 'she's changing'. Maybe I might have a chance with her. Maybe. There is always hope.

"Glitter balls? I like it. Good job, biscuit." He says to Clary.

"I wish I could say the same. I mean biscuit. Really? You can do better than that. Ooooh… I've got one. Ginger snap. See we're still on the biscuit theme here. I'm basically calling myself ginger, which by the way I am not, I am a redhead. There's a difference." Magnus chuckles a little bit even though it seems a bit half-heartedly. No one else seems to notice the little exchange between Magnus and Clary as they are all engrossed in whatever they are doing, meaning that they are all playing on their phones. Unsociable morons.

"Ginger snap, is pretty good, biscuit. However, I am still calling you biscuit, biscuit." Clary rolls her eyes but is still smiling at Mag.

"I know you're avoiding the question, glitter balls. What's up?" She asks. Magnus sighs and looks her in the eyes.

"Alexander and I had a bit of a fight." Clary motions for him to carry on. "He wants to know more about me, about my past and others that I have dated. I told him that it doesn't matter because all there is now is him. But he wouldn't listen and insisted that I was hiding things from him. Which I am not, if you were wondering. So now my senior boyfriend is acting like a kindergartener and giving me the silent treatment." Magnus sighs again but Clary doesn't say anything. So that would be why neither of them were saying much.

Then purposefully Clary spoke quite louder than usual so that Alec could hear what she had to say. "Well, I am not an expert in relationships and all that crap, actually that's an understatement; I do not understand the first thing about having a boyfriend. But anyways, it's clear to anyone that you two are meant for each other. I don't know why Alec is giving you crap about your past because it really doesn't matter. He is just PMS-ing and needs to get his head together because, from what you have told me, he's just being an asswipe and woke up on the wrong side of bed. So you two go to a big cupboard somewhere and make up and then make out." She takes a small breath. "The past is in the past. It doesn't matter what happened when we were younger but we have to put it behind us. And it isn't our past choices that define us, it's the ones we make starting from right now. So you need to slay your demons and then focus on your relationship. But I'm pretty sure you slayed your demons the moment you met Alec." Magnus nodded. I have a feeling that what she just said about our pasts wasn't about trying to convince Magnus and Alec but convince herself. Alec, who was glaring at Clary at the start of her little speech, is now smiling gratefully at the small girl. Alec and his sparkly boyfriend lock eyes and make some kind of silent agreement. They both walk out the cafeteria. Probably to go make out in a janitor's closet like Clary told them to.

Soon after that the bell rang and everyone made their way to the next class that they had. I walked by Clary to our next lesson. "Y'know that was pretty cool what you did for glitter balls and Alec." She blushes knowing that I must have heard their conversation from calling Magnus glitter balls.

"Well, I kinda like you guys so I figured that I should at least try and be friends. If not for me than for Jon." She shrugs and we make our way to music.

Before I know it, the last bell has rung and Izzy, Simon and I are on our way to Jon and Clary's after we had swooped by our place so Izzy could grab Clary a dress. As soon as we had arrived, Izzy had found Clary and dragged her into the dressing room on the ground floor. Who even had a dressing room? I mean, we do but… Okay whatever.

What takes girls so long to get ready? All they have to do is put on a dress and put some eye liner and all that make-up stuff on. Personally, I don't think that girls who cover themselves in the stuff look nice, they look fake unlike Clary who is naturally beautiful even without any type of make-up. After two hours of waiting, Izzy finally announce that they are ready. When they walk out together, I feel the breath knocked out of me.

Clary looks absolutely stunning. She is wearing a tight green dress that makes her eyes sparkle even more than usual. The dress hugs her curves in all the right places and ends at her mid-thigh exposing her pale legs that seem to look extremely long with the high black heels that she has on. She is only wearing some eye liner and mascara and looks amazing. I can't stop staring at her. There is no word good enough to describe how amazing she is.

"Like what you see, Lightwood?"

This breaks me out of my daze and I don't even comprehend what I am saying before it comes out. "I would be lying if I said that I don't." She blushes and looks away but I can see her mouth twitching up, trying not to smirk.

"Where's Jon?" Clary asks.

"Kitchen."

She walks through to the kitchen to find Jon. Simon is making googly eyes at Izzy. God, they are really annoying sometimes! About five minutes later Jon and Clary return yet she looks a bit different. She smiling widely like she just got a puppy or something and is swaying on her feet a little bit. Jon, however looks in pain.

"What happened?" I ask, eyeing the siblings. Clary smirks mischievously and giggles while Jon just groans in pain.

"She wanted vodka but I wouldn't give it to her." He takes a breath. "Then she kicked me in the balls." Clary giggled like a little girl and Jon rolled his eyes.

"Let me guess," I say. "She kicked your balls and then grabbed the alcohol. How much did she drink?"

"I don't know how much was in the bottle but its empty now," He sighs. "She said and I quote: 'I can't go to this party sober otherwise I'll end up killing myself. Actually, I'm too valuable to die, I'll be depriving the world. In that case, I will end up killing someone else, most likely it will be Jace'" He laughs and I can't help but laugh along with him at what she said. Out of the blue, Clary screams. All four of us are panicked and ask her what is wrong.

"I'M DYING!" She shouts, then continues. "Of boredom. Let us go par-tay! Wooooooo!" There is a collective rolling of eyes before us all head out to the car, with Clary skipping, actually skipping, ahead of us. I've never understood how girls are able to run in those death traps that the call heels. Apparently neither can Clary as she falls over multiple times on her extremely long twenty foot walk – or skip – to the car. Eventually we all get in the car, with Iz and rat-boy in the front and me in between Jon and Clary in the backseat. The journey goes smoothly until a couple of minutes before we're there when Clary, who has been inspecting her hair like it's the most fascinating thing ever seen, decides to voice her thoughts.

"STOP THE CAR!" She screeches. Izzy swerves to the side of the road, narrowly missing an oncoming van. "My hair is on fire! Look at it, Jace," She holds out a strand of hair towards me, trying to get me to inspect it like she has been.

"Clary," I say softly. Her bright green eyes lock with my own gold ones. "Your hair isn't on fire. It's just very very red so it looks a bit like fire, okay?" She nods her head and Izzy starts the engine and pulls back into the road.

"DRIVE!" Clary shouts. I and Jon sigh looking at the redhead who has now gone back to inspecting her hair.

"Simon and I aren't going to be looking after her." Izzy states looking at us in the mirror.

"I don't want to, I actually want to have some fun! I haven't been out in ages!" Jon complains whilst I roll my eyes at his childish whining.

"I would like to have fun too." I say. Jon looks at me.

"Jace, please. You don't even have to stay with her, just make sure you know where she is." I sigh and nod. "I owe you big time, Jace. Thanks!"

"How come you can't do it anyway, Jon? It can't just be that you want to have fun because you love Clary too much to do that… You've got a date, haven't you?" He nods and I smirk at my amazing detective skills. See, when it comes to girls me and Jon are complete opposites. Jon only goes out with girls he really likes and is looking for a proper relationship, unlike me who only goes for no strings attached.

When we pull up to where the party is being held, I'm quite surprised. It's at this old abandoned, derelict hotel. There is a sign that reads 'HOTEL DUMORT' and where the 'N' was, it has been replaced with an 'R'. I wonder what that means. Beside me Clary giggles.

"The hotel of death…" She says in a creepy vampire voice. "Beware the vampires that lurk inside these walls!" She then does this evil laugh thing and giggles at her own joke. Clary is definitely a weird drunk. I guess that's what it means though – Hotel of death. It's a… interesting place to have a party. Very, how to say this nicely, unique. Yeah, this is unique. We enter and I am immediately hit with the smell of alcohol and sweating bodies. Clary is already running of into the crowd of dancing – more like grinding – teenagers. Being her so-to-speak supervisor, I follow her. This is going to be a long night. A _very_ long night.

_**CLARY POV: **_  
The world is spinning. It must be the apocalypse! I feel like I'm free and I have no worries. No sadistic father and messed up childhood to worry about. Just dancing and dancing and danc- oomph! What was that? I think I just walked into a wall. But walls hurt more than that, I should know. When I look up, I see a very handsome, sexy boy looking down at me with an amused expression. He's quite tan and very muscle-y. Muscle-y. Is that a word? What is that word? Muscular. That's it, he is very muscular.

"You okay there, Hermosa?" His voice is very nice and sounds almost Spanish.

"I'm dancing!" I tell him. Then his chest vibrates and he makes a sound. I can feel it rumble because neither of us have moved from the position we were in when I first bumped into his chest. "Do that again! It sounds funny." I giggle and press my ear up against his chest where the weird vibrating thing happens again. How does he do that? Is he laughing? I think that's what it is, when he laughs it his chest does it. That is amazing!

"Do you want to dance, Hermosa?" He asks seductively.

I nod excitedly. "My name isn't Hermione though. It's Clary. Wait, you're hottie Hispanic!" He laughs again and puts his hands possessively on my hips and pulls me flush against him. We dance together for a few minutes before he tilts my chin up to make me look at him. The room isn't spinning now but when people move it's all a bit of a blur.

"How about we take this to one of the many spare bedrooms here?" His voice is very husky now.

"Can I dance there?" I ask.

"Oh, I assure you, we will be dancing. Well, a dance of some sorts." He laughs but I don't understand. Anyway, I laugh with him. He then puts his hands on my ass and I can't stop the squeal of surprise that passes my lips. He's smirking at me but it's not like Jace's smirk. No, his smirk is cold and full of hatred. But this doesn't matter right now. Nothing matters because I am free! Roughly, hottie Hispanic picks me up by my bum and wraps my legs around him. He goes to kiss me but I lean backwards, further away from him and he growls. I attempt to pull myself off him but his grip on me tightens. Slowly, I come to my senses and realise what is happening. Then, whilst he is kissing around my neck and collar bone, I smack my head into his and he let's go of me. I land on my feet and glare at him.

"Mear fuera, huevón!" _Piss off, dickhead! _I slap him and turn around just to run straight into another person when I look up to see who it is, I am kind of thankful. Jace. He takes me by the arm and leads me off.

"Clary, you can't just let guys like that touch you up!" He said, frowning.

"He said that we could go dance in one of the bedrooms. I wanted to dance!" I argue. His eyes widen for a second.

"Clary can you please stay with me until we leave?" I nod. "Do you promise?"

"Pinkie swear!" I hold out my little finger to him. He rolls his eyes –I think that that is very mean – but holds up his pinkie as well.

"Clary, let's go find the others and then we can go home." I nod and hold onto his arm to steady myself.

"Jace," I look up at him and he locks his pretty gold eyes with me. "I don't feel too good…"


	10. Truth or Dare?

_**DAMAGED GOODS – CHAPTER 10 – Truth or Dare?**_

_**CLARY POV: **_  
After emptying the contents of my stomach, I felt much better. Unlike most guys, Jace actually stayed by me and held my hair. Once we rounded everybody up we headed back to the Lightwoods'. Alec, Magnus and Simon left first in Magnus' car and we followed shortly after that. At the moment I am splayed out on the backseat with my head resting on Jon's lap whilst he strokes my hair. The party was getting boring anyway, not that I was really aware of much. Jace announces that we're here and we all climb out and head into the living room where Magnus and Alec look like they are attacking the other's face.

Simon runs up to Izzy and hugs her dramatically. "Oh thank the Angel!" He shouts. "They've been sucking face for the last twenty minutes! I could see their tongues for the Angel's sake!" Alec has the decency to look slightly embarrassed but Magnus just grins like the maniac that he really is.

"You just couldn't keep it in your pants for five seconds, could you?" I ask, shaking my head amusedly.

"Darlings, I am afraid that I just cannot keep my hands off this fine specimen." Alec blushes and we all laugh. Simon and Izzy sit next to each other while Jon, Jace and I take a seat on the floor. The two couples then proceed to make out leaving a very bored me sitting on the floor with nothing to do.

"I'm bored." I complain. Jon rolls his eyes

"And I'm supposed to do what…?" Jace asks.

"Food." I state. Again, Jon rolls his eyes at me but doesn't say anything.

"You want food?"

"Yup," I say popping the 'p'. "Chocolate."

"Nope. I can't be bothered to get up. This carpet is unusually comfortable. Don't you think?"

"Asshole." I mutter loud enough so he can hear. And Jace being Jace just smirks. Egotistical piece of…To relieve myself of some of my boredom, I do a handstand in the middle of the Lightwood's living room.

"Any particular reason why you are doing a handstand?" Jace asks with an amused smirk plastered on to his face.

"I said I was bored. You wouldn't get me chocolate so right now I'm doing a handstand. Now I'm not as bored as I was." I say. Jace and Jon shake their heads good-humouredly. For the next ten minutes, I stay in my handstand, my balance not wavering for one second and Jace and I talk. Not about anything in particular, we just talk. It doesn't feel forced like conversation sometimes does when you have nothing to do. No, we just speak freely together about anything and everything. That is, until Isabelle and Simon finally decided that they would stop sucking face and actually come back to our world.

"What do you wanna do?" Izzy asks as cheerful as ever.

"Something other than watching you and your boyfriend making out upside down." I say.

"Yeah, why are you doing a handstand. It's quite weird." Simon quipped.

"I was bored." I state. They both shrug. Then Izzy grins weirdly and there's a spark in her eye. It's not a good look, it's the kind of expression that crazy psychopaths have as they put their evil plan in motion. And Izzy definitely has the potential to become a crazy psychopath.

"OH, HELL NO!" Exclaims Alec who has finally decided to detach his mouth from glitter balls' mouth. Simon, Jace and Jon take a look at Izzy's maniac expression and then groan. Okay, what is up with everybody?

"What?!" I snap, quite irritated that I don't know what is happening.

"That's her truth or dare face." Simon tells me. Oh, I agree with Alec. HELL NO! The last time I played that I ended up drunk and fell asleep hanging by my feet from a tree in central park. Don't ask me how that happened because I do not have a clue as to how it did.

"Yeah… no." I say. "That is not happening. We are not playing that god forsaken game!" I say as sternly as I can.

"Clary, loosen up. You're too uptight." I growl. Just because I do not want to participate in some childish game that has no purpose doesn't mean that I am uptight. Just because I was brought up to be a warrior and actually have my own mind does not mean in any way that I am uptight. I know the only reason she said that is because she wants me to contradict her and play the game. Even though I know this, I can't stop the words coming out of my mouth.

Through gritted teeth I say, "Fine." Izzy smirks triumphantly and I roll my eyes. Asshat. She gets us all to sit in a circle on the floor and then starts to explain the stupid rules.

"So, if you decide not to do one of your truths or dares, you have to remove one item of clothing," Well isn't this just great for me. I'm wearing hardly anything, thanks to the devious Isabelle. "A sock or a shoe count as one item of clothing. But may I just remind you all that if you decline a dare, you will be taunted about being a pussy for the next week."

"If I am going to survive this torture then I need a drink." Jace states and gets up, I too stand up.

"If you're allowed alcohol to survive this then I sure as hell get some!" He rolls his eyes and takes my arm, leading me to I presume the kitchen. When we get there he gets a bottle of something out of the top cupboard and grabs two shot glasses. He then expertly pours them out and hands one to me. I drain it and hand the glass back to him. I feel the tension from my shoulders lessen. "Okay, ready to be tortured." He laughs lightly and we go back into the lounge where everybody except Magnus and Izzy are looking very glum. I sit between Simon and my brother and then Jace sits by Alec. Our little circle is like this: Izzy, Simon, Me, Jon, Magnus, Alec, Jace. Simon and Izzy are holding hands but luckily no more than that. Amazingly, Magnus and Alec don't have their tongues stuck down each other's throat. Miracles _do_ happen!

Before we can start Izzy says, "Hey, why don't we call some people and see if they wanna come and play. Because I don't particularly want your perverted hormonal teenage boy eyes staring at me in my underwear, if it comes to that. We should get some more girls, be more fun! Okay, that sounds odd," We all shrug and she pulls her phone out of her bra. "Okay, I'll call Aline and Helen. Jace, you call Jordan and see if he and Maia want to come, I haven't seen those two in ages." She muses. Jace complies and pulls out his phone and dials the number. After they finish their phone calls, Izzy looks over the moon. "They're all coming!" She squeals like a real girl.

I lean towards Jon. "Who are they exactly?"

"Some of our friends. We're not real close though. Helen and Aline are together and sit with us occasionally. Jordan and Maia are a couple as well." Jon explains.

"So they'll be four coupes here and three singles. Great." I mutter sarcastically.

"They'll be here in like ten minutes but we can start. I'll go first." She scans the room before her eyes land on Jace. "Jace, dearest brother, truth or dare?"

"I'm a man," I snort at this and he glares at me; cue innocent smile. "Dare."

"Hmmm…" She ponders it for a second. "I dare you to let Clary sit in your lap for the rest of the game." She finishes with a proud smirk. There is no way that I am sitting in _his_ lap.

"What kind of pansycake dare is that?!" I ask, completely against the idea.

"Clary, it's obviously quite a good dare if it's getting you all worked up like that." She grins at me and I glare at her.

"Awwww, come on Red. You know you can't resist this," He gestures to himself and I snort again.

"You wish." I say smugly.

"Uptight," Isabelle says in a sing-song voice. I huff and walk over to Jace who is smirking at me. I sit myself down in his lap and try to make it as uncomfortable for him as possible but he doesn't do anything to move.

"I don't see how this is a dare for you," I whisper. "It's more like torture for me." He grins at me and pulls me close to him. I try to break out of his arms but they just tighten. Asshole. He is really going to make this hard for me, isn't he? "Asswipe." I mutter and he laughs, his chest moving up and down.

"Okay," Jace says. "Magnus. You know the question."

"Dare." He speaks confidently.

"I dare you to de-sparkle yourself for the rest of the game." Magnus looks horrified at the thought and me being the amazing person I am (SARCASM) protest for him.

"You can't do that to glitter balls. What would he without his sparkles? He'd be like a unicorn with no horn. Winnie the pooh without honey. Ben with No Jerry's. Ying wi-"Jace holds his hands up in surrender.

"Okay, okay, Red. We get it."

"Without Yang." I finish. "Glitter balls, it's your go."

"Biscuit, truth or dare?"

"Dare." I say without a moment's hesitation.

"Eager aren't we, biscuit?" Magnus says. "I dare you to go dance down the street and do something odd." I shrug and walk out the front door with the rest of them trailing behind me. When I get outside I'm welcomed by a gust of cold wind. Goosebumps raise on my skin but I ignore it and suppress a shiver. I then skip down the street and start singing my favourite Disney song as loud as I can.

"Hakuna Matata, what a wonderful phrase,  
Hakuna Matata, ain't no passing craze,  
It means no worries for the rest of your days,  
It's our problem free philosophy, Hakuna Matata,"

I can hear every one laughing behind me but I carry on skipping. I see a group of four teenagers walking down the road and skip over to where they are. When I get to them I stand right in front of them and walk backwards whilst they walk, well, forwards like normal people do.

"Why, when he was a young warthog,  
When I was a young warthog,  
Very nice, thanks."

They are giving each other weird glances probably thinking 'this girl has some issues'.

"He found his aroma lacked a certain appeal,  
He could clear the Savannah after every meal,  
I'm a sensitive soul, though I seem thick-skinned,  
And it hurt that my friends never stood downwind."

Without a second glance I turn round and skip back up to the Lightwood mansion where the six of them are laughing hysterically. I roll my eyes. Alec smiles at me.

"Hakuna Matata," Alec states. "Fan of the lion king, I see."

"Who isn't? That is the best Disney song." I tell him. He smiles again. I hear footsteps so I turn around to see the group that I was just singing to walking up the pathway to us. Three girls and one guy. They boy greets everyone with one of those manly nod things. Why do guys do that? I've always wondered. The three girls greet Izzy with hugs.

"I would give introductions," Iz says. "But I see that you have already met Clary." They look at me and I smirk.

"Hakuna Matata." I wave in a bored way at them and they laugh. We all head back in and sit back where we were sitting and the new people – Maia, Jordan, Aline and Helen – I remind myself, sit down as well. I try to sit next to Jace but he pulls me back down onto his lap and I groan, quite loudly.

"Are you two-?" One of the girls asked. She has short brown hair and deep brown eyes and a dark complexion – Maia. I make a noise of disgust at her question. Me and Jace? No, he doesn't like me like that. I don't like him like that. At least I don't think I do…

"Me and Jace?" I ask incredulously. Maia nods. "Never. It's a stupid dare." I grumble. Everyone laughs.

"Oh," Aline, the Asian looking girl said. "You would look cute together."

"Me and Red here? Red just likes to deny it. Who wouldn't be in love with the amazingly attractive god that is me?" I stiffen a bit when he says 'love' but I don't think he notices, thankfully. I elbow his chest and he coughs. After that we go back to the game and Jace doesn't say another word. Works for me. After a few more rounds, both Jordan and Jon have taken their tops off. Why not shoes? They just had to take their shirts off. _Boys_. Except from that everyone has all their clothing on. I zone out for a while and it isn't until Jace pokes my cheek that I come back to my senses.

"What?" I snap.

"Truth or dare, Red?"

"If I choose dare will I have to get up because I am quite happy sitting here," I then realise what I said and Jace smirks down at me. "Not like that you jerk. Don't make some comment about knowing that I would succumb to your idiotic charms because I haven't. Get your head out of your ass. I'm lazy and can't be bothered to move." He's still smirking but doesn't make a comment like I thought he would.

"A dare probably would require you moving." I sigh.

"Truth then." I tell him.

"Where are you going tomorrow?" At my puzzled look he continues. "At lunch you said you needed to go somewhere on the 10th, that's tomorrow." I go incredibly still. I'm not going to tell him that I'm visiting my father's grave. Only Jon knows that I go there every year. So I lie.

"Nowhere." I say, hoping that I sound convincing.

"That's BS, Clary." Izzy says from across the room. I glare at her.

Then I realise, I still have my heels on. Why didn't I remember about them before? I smirk, pull off one of my shoes and throw it in the middle. Jace sighs and I can't help but feel a little bit guilty. But why am I guilty? I ask myself. Jace doesn't need to know so why should I feel guilty about not telling him that. God, he is really messing up my head at the moment. I always second guess myself whenever we're together and it is driving me crazy.

"Izzy?"

"Dare." She responds.

"I dare you to call your parents and tell them that Simon got you pregnant." She shakily lifts up her phone and dials a number.

"Hey mummy… No, everything's okay. I just wanted to call and tell you h-how much I love you… Aren't I allowed to tell my mother that I love her without having an ulterior motive?" She asks sweetly, we all snigger. "Okay, well I do have something to tell you…" I make a gesture for her to put it on speaker and she complies.

"What is it, Izzy? You're prolonging telling me. Whatever it is, it can't be that bad." The voice on the other end of the phone says. Maryse Lightwood, I remember Jon saying.

"ImpregnantwithSimonsbaby!" Izzy rushes out.

"YOU WHAT?!" Screams Maryse. I can't help it, I burst out laughing and soon does everyone else. "You're playing truth or dare, aren't you? I should have known. Remind me to have a word with whoever made you do that dare. It is not funny, Isabelle Sophia Lightwood." Izzy swallows but then smirks at me.

"Just so you know, it was Clary," I growl. "Bye-bye now, mum. See you whenever you get back." She cuts the call off and glares at me.

"Oooooh," Jace mocks her. "You got full-named. You're going to be in big trouble when she gets back." Izzy groans.

"Anyways, Helen. Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"If you could be reborn as someone else in this room, who would it be and why?" What kind of weird question is that?

"Clary," She says, I raise my eyebrows at her. "I love her hair."

"Believe me, you really wouldn't want to be me." I mumble to myself.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jace whispers into my ear. I forgot he was there. No, I forgot that I was sitting on his lap, how weird.

"Nothing." He looks like he doesn't believe me but doesn't continue the subject.

"Clary?" Helen asks.

"Truth." I reply.

"What was one thing that you hat about the way in which you were brought up?" Helen asks.

"I swear all of you are just trying to find out stuff about me," she just shrugs. "One thing that I hate about the way I was brought up?" Helen nods. "There's too many to count." My voice comes out cold and challenging. No one asks me to explain what I mean. Good. Maybe they'll stop asking questions that they don't deserve the answer to then. "Jon, truth or dare?" I ask my brother.

"Your dares will humiliate me but then so will whatever truth you choose so dare, little sister." He replies.

"Kiss the person to your left." Jon looks to his left and sees who I intend for him to kiss – Magnus. Jon doesn't say anything but turns to glare at me and takes one of his shoes off. There's a chorus of everyone saying 'pussy' and I laugh. Jon just huffs and ignores everyone, then flips me off. I laugh it off even though it annoys me that he did do that for some reason.

"Jace, truth or dare?" Jon asks his best friend.

"Dare." He smirks.

"I dare you to have a drinking contest with… Clary." I groan and glare at my moron of a brother.

"Fine, I'll get the glasses. Izzy you get the drink." Jace says. I jump off his lap.

"Izzy, don't worry, I'll go." I say and smile innocently. I and Jace walk to the kitchen to get alcohol, this feels like Déjà vu. Jace reaches for the bottle of Vodka but I stop him. "Please, Jace fill two shots with vodka and the rest with water. I can't get drunk today. Well, not _again_."

"Scared that you'll admit your undying love for me if you're drunk?" I scoff.

"In your dreams." I retort.

"Yes, yes it is." I roll my eyes.

"Please, Jace. I can't get drunk. I really do need to go somewhere today and I have to be in the right mind for it." Why did I say that? He didn't need that extra bit of information. Why can't I seem to stop myself from telling him things? It is getting very irritating now. I really do not understand why I'm like this near him. There must be something in the way I talk that tells Jace I'm being serious because his expression softens slightly.

"On one condition," He starts. I nod for him to go on. "Where are you going later? Don't lie. I just want to know, I won't tell anybody else if you don't want me to." I ponder over this for a second he doesn't actually need to know exactly where I'm going so I'll just give him a vague answer.

"I'm going to visit a family member. Don't ask who. Don't ask why. That is as much as you're getting." I say as sternly as I can. He shrugs.

"Worth a try." And then hands me a tray of twenty shot glasses. Only two of which are filled with alcohol. I smile gratefully at him and he returns it. We go back to the living room and do the 'drinking contest' and move onto the next person. "Jon, I know you'll pick dare so I dare you to go and play seven minutes in heaven with Jordan." Jon winks at Jordan who acts like a girl and starts fanning himself.

"Come with me, darling." Jon says to Jordan.

Jordan plays along and giggles girlishly. "Where are we going, handsome?" He asks batting his eyelids, flirtatiously.

"To your dreams." Jon responds seductively. That's what gets me. I burst out laughing and can't seem to stop myself. When I eventually do, Jon and Jordan are looking at me.

"'To your dreams'? Have you ever actually used that line before?" I ask, Jon shrugs. "It was very bromantic." Jon shrugs and grabs Jordan's hand.

"Come, my love we must leave now. We will be back in seven minutes." With a wave they walk off to somewhere. Seven minutes later they return with messy hair and goofy grins on their face. I don't think I want to know what they were doing.

"Have fun?" Maia, Jordan's girlfriend asks. He nods like a child who wants ice cream and Maia just rolls her eyes at her overly childish boyfriend.

"Okay, Izzy, truth or dare?" Jon asks.

"Truth." She says.

"Are you a virgin?" He asks. Pervert.

"Seriously, man!" Complains Alec. "That's my sister. I really don't want to know about anything to do with that." Jon smirks.

"Nope." Iz smiles sweetly.

"Okay, Alec?"

"Truth."

"Have you ever gone skinny dipping?" Alec's sister asks him with wide innocent eyes. He coughs and flushes a bright red.

"I-I-I…" he sputters.

"I'll take that as a yes then." I say.

"Yes." He says grudgingly. I chuckle. "Fine. Clary-"

"Truth." I tell him.

"If you were granted two wishes, what would you ask for?"

"To be able to fly and be a guy for a day." I state. Alec raises an eyebrow in question at me. "Guys always complain about how getting kicked in the nuts hurts so much. I just want to see if you're all being pathetic, which is more likely."

"You're crazy!" Alec exclaims. "You do not understand how insane that sounds to any guy. Believe me, you don't want that. It hurts like hell!"

"There are worse things than that." I say.

"And you'd know this." He challenges.

"Believe me, I would."

"Alec." Jon warns as Alec opens his mouth to retort something. He shuts his mouth and doesn't say anything more. I smile at Jon who smiles back.

"Jace. Truth or dare?"

"I'm being lazy," he says. "Truth."

"What is your worst fear?" I ask.

"Ducks," He spits the word out venomously and I can feel him shudder with disgust. I am trying so hard right now to stop myself from laughing. "Bloodthirsty little beasts, never trust a duck." I take a shaky breath to calm myself. Surprisingly, I don't laugh. I'm proud of myself.

_**JACE POV: **_  
She's trying not to laugh at me. I don't understand why people like ducks; they are hell spawn. They deceive you with their cuteness but on the inside they are the servants of hell. The cute fluffy yellowness is gone and replaced with razor sharp talons of doom. As you can see, I'm not a big fan of the disgusting little monsters that people call ducks. Payback time, Red.

"Red, truth or dare? Here's a hint, don't choose dare." I whisper in her ear.

"Fine then. Truth." She says dramatically.

"What is _your_ worst fear?" She goes rigid in my lap and is deathly silent. Out of the corner of my eye I can see looking at her with concern. She still hasn't said anything but slowly takes her other shoe off and throws it in the middle of the circle where all the other items of clothing have been strewn. At least now she'll have to do whatever truth or dare that she is given because I doubt that Clary would take her dress off. The next few hours go by in a blur. Aline and Helen left but we all played on for about an hour until Izzy dared Clary.

"Clary, truth or dare?"

"Dare." Clary said, sounding quite bored.

"I dare you to kiss Jace." I feel Clary go stiff. But if I'm being honest, I am kind of thankful for Izzy's dare. Maybe if I kiss her then I'll be able to stop thinking about her and that it will be 'out of my system'. But I know that won't work. There's something about Clary. I just feel drawn to her. And I know it's cheesy but like we were meant to be.

"I'm not doing that." Clary protests weakly.

"It's either that or you take off your dress." Izzy points out for her. Slowly, Clary swivels round on my lap so that she's facing me. Her eyes meeting mine, her eyebrows raised as if to asks if I was okay with this. Hell, I'm more than okay with this. I'm over the moon. I get to kiss her. I nod. Reluctantly, Clary leans forward and our lips brush. Just a simple small show of affection and I felt a spark there. However cliché it must sound, I felt a spark. Clary must have felt it too as she tenses slightly. But there was no doubt that there _is_ a spark. Our lips find each other's and work together creating a rhythm. I ask for entrance and she happily obliges. I completely forget where we are and all I can think about and know at this moment is Clary. There is nothing else in this world but the small beautiful girl in front of me. Our tongues battle for dominance. This feels so… right. I've never felt like this when I've kissed any girl before. This, this is something else. I feel like I'm addicted to her now. However stalker-like that must sound. I make a noise that is dangerously close to a moan. Then I come back to my senses and I realise where we are – in my living room with seven pairs of eyes staring at us. Crap. Someone clears their throat and Clary snaps her head round to look at all the eyes trained on us. The air is thick with tension.

"Gee, you're like animals!" Izzy says in an attempt to relieve dome of the tension. This seems to break Clary out of whatever daze she was in because she jumps off of my lap and wordlessly grabs her heels.

"I'll be back by tonight." Is all she says before heading out of the door to the living room.

"Clary-?" Jon shouts but stops himself when we all hear the front door close with a slam. I stand up and everyone is staring at me, waiting for me to say something or to explain myself. The latter I am unable to do.

"I'm going to go…" I trail off awkwardly. I get a few nods and head out the front door to follow Clary. I see s flash of red at the end of the street and I follow it, knowing that it must be Clary. I pick up my pace and then slow down a bit when I see her. She's walking briskly but seems to be having a bit of trouble in the heels that she's in. Suddenly, she stops and smashes her fist into a brick wall. I wince at the force of the punch. That has got to hurt. Then, she snaps the heel off of one of her shoes before doing the same to the other. I can hear her sigh before turning back around and started walking on the sidewalk again. She picks up her pace so that she is jogging, which then soon progresses into a full blown run. I follow, just able to keep up with her. I don't have a clue where she's going; she is just running and running and running.

After about twenty minutes, Clary slows herself down. That's when I look at where we are – a cemetery. Why would she come here? She walks into the cemetery, still oblivious to the fact that I am following her. Slowly, Clary saunters over to a grave with a black marble headstone which is illuminated in the dark by a flickering lamppost. Stealthily I follow her and stay in the shadows, about ten feet away from her current position at the grave. She kneels down in front of the grave.

When she does speak, her voice comes out so vulnerable that I feel this urge to go over there and comfort her. But I can't. And it kills me knowing that I can't help her. "Happy death-day, father. Do you know what, Daddy? I hate you. I hate you so much it is actually unbelievable the amount of hatred I feel for you. You messed me up so much. You were a sick and vile person and what you did to me was disgusting. But do you know what is even more disgusting? I still miss you. You told me that to love is to destroy and to be loved is to be destroyed. You were right. Because even though you were the worst thing that ever happened to me, I loved you. But you used it against me. You were a horrid father yet I still loved you. I had this ignorant and childish fantasy that one day you might become a normal father and tell your daughter that you loved her. But I was too young to realise that you were an abomination of a person and that you would never change. You messed me up so much that I can't feel anything. You wanted to make me a perfect warrior? Well, you succeeded. This is what you wanted – a person who isn't capable of emotions. A person who will obey everything you say because they have nothing left to live for. You got what you wanted then. I loathe you, father. Even the mere thought of you is sickening. You know, I kissed this boy today and I like him. God, I like him too much. But that's the thing, all I can do is like him because I can't feel anything for him. I won't allow myself to. I'll drag him down to the bottom where I am or he'll just make me sink even further. This is what my life has come to," She laughs bitterly. "You don't know how glad I am that you're dead. Every day since I was six, I wished that you would die. My wish came true. Looks like the universe doesn't _completely_ hate me. I hope that you are rotting in the deepest, darkest and most terrifying pits of hell. It's only what you deserve. Well, you deserve a lot worse than that but I guess I'll have to settle. I hate you. Goodbye, asshole and may you forever burn in hell." She stands up and brushes the dirt off herself. I don't move a muscle, just watch her leave and flee into the darkness of the night.

When I'm sure that she is gone, I step out from my hiding place and walk over to the grave that Clary was just at. The headstone reads: 'Valentine Morgenstern. Loving father and caring friend.' From the way Clary was just talking, this description doesn't seem that accurate. This is Clary's father. The man that ruined her life.

At least I know her real name now. I guess that it is one step closer to knowing her.

_Clarissa Adele Morgenstern._


	11. Resolving hidden feelings?

_**DAMAGED GOODS – CHAPTER 11 – Resolving hidden feelings**_

_**JON POV:**_  
When Jace finally arrived back, it was about seven in the morning. Everybody else was asleep but I was too restless to be able to sleep so I just stayed up and drank coffee. _Lots_ of coffee. As soon as I hear the front door slam I'm off of the chair I was previously sitting on and am standing on my feet, anxious as to what happened. As Jace comes into the kitchen, he doesn't spare me a glance, just heads straight towards the coffee machine and pours himself a mug of the drink and then sits across the breakfast bar from me. I raise an eyebrow in question at him. He takes a few gulps of the coffee before speaking.

"I followed her," I look to him to continue. "She went to a graveyard." I figured as much. January 10th is the Anniversary of Valentine Morgenstern, our father's – I feel sick even thinking that I am related to that sick bastard – death. The day when Clary was released from his torturous clutches. Every year Clary visits his grave on this day, I know it isn't that she does it because she feels obliged, I'm not really sure but every year on this exact day she goes there. I nod to Jace for him to continue. "And she went to her father's – your father's – grave. Then she kept saying how he messed her up and that she hated him. And then she said that she hated him one last time and fled into the night. Is she here?" I shake my head.

"No, she hasn't come buck yet. Knowing her, she'll probably be back by noon. How much did she say?" I ask curiously.

"Clary said that she hated him because he messed her up and now she just doesn't feel like she can actually have any emotions, that she is some kind of soldier or something." I furrow my brows. Soldier? I haven't heard that one before. I can tell Jace is holding something back though.

"What else, there's something else isn't there?" He nods.

"Sh-she said that she likes me but she won't let it go any further because… well because she doesn't want me to hurt her I suppose." He says solemnly.

"Do you think you _would_ hurt her?"

Jace doesn't miss a beat. "No." He says with conviction. "That would be the last thing I'd do." He smiles for a second. "I can't believe I'm talking about girls – about your own _sister_ – with you." Jace chuckles lightly before growing serious again.

"Believe me, man, I'm not exactly comfortable with this either. I'm only doing this to protect my baby sister." I tell him.

"I know," He takes a deep breath. "Valentine Morgenstern?" I tense just hearing his name.

"Yes." I say, not knowing exactly how to respond to him.

"He's your father? Your last name _was_ Morgenstern?" He inquires. All I can do is nod. "Is that Clary's worst fear?" He asks, referring to one of the truths asked in our game. My head snaps up to meet his curious glance.

"What do you mean?" I say nonchalantly.

"Is he – Valentine – her worst fear?"

I hesitate telling him. "Clary is never going to know about this conversation," I state. "But I think he is, yes. Clary has never told me what she fears, she's too independent to give away that information. But from the way she acted last night when you asker her, I would say yes." I sigh. Sometimes life is just too messed up. "Did Clary see you following her?" I ask, slightly worried because if she had seen Jace, Clary would have flipped.

"No. At least, I'm pretty sure she didn't and if she did then she didn't react at all." I release a breath that I didn't realise I had been holding. "Why do you think Clary ran out earlier after we…?" Jace trails off at the end, but I know what he means. After they kissed.

"I don't know. It's not me you need to be talking to about this. If you like my sister and she likes you; then you need to talk. But I swear by the angel, I will rip you limb from limb and tear out all your insides-"

"Who's tearing off whose limbs?" Asks a voice at the doorway. Both Jace and I spin around, neither of us had noticed that someone else had come into the kitchen. And I'm not at all surprised when I see who it is that is leaning against the door frame casually, picking at her nails. Clary.

"Nobody." Me and Jace say in unison. That is not suspicious at all…

"Sure." She says sarcastically. Clary leisurely walks in, grabs a mug from the cupboard and fills it with coffee. Black. I don't see how she can drink it like that, it tastes so bitter and disgusting, but then again, it's Clary.

"How can you drink it like that?" I ask, moving on to another subject.

"What?"

"Your coffee, it's so bitter. How can you like it?"

"It's black, like my soul," She grins weirdly before taking a seat next to Jace.

"Okaaay," I say. "Where did you go this morning, Clare?" She glares at me.

"You know where I went." She states. "And then after I went there, I went to a fire arms shop somewhere in Brooklyn." She says nonchalantly like that's completely normal. Jace chokes on his coffee and looks at her incredulously.

"You did what?!" he asked.

"I went and got a gun and then shot some pigeons from a rooftop." Clary explains in a 'DUH' voice. Jace and I share at look that says 'she is crazy' before turning our attention back to Clary.

"So let me get this right," Jace says. "In the early hours of the morning, you – a sixteen year old _girl_ – was walking around New York, a very dangerous city, alone and bought a gun from some dodgy gun place?" She nods, looking at Jace like he is the insane one. "Then said girl climbs onto some rooftop somewhere and starts shooting pigeons?"

"Pigeons really piss me off." She states, seriously. Jace and I laugh, just because it's so stupid. A small girl like Clary shooting pigeons for fun because they annoy her. I shake my head, good-humouredly. I know that I should be worried about her but Clary can take care of herself. Clary can take down ten men who are double the size of her so I don't really need to worry about her safety. Maybe I should be worrying about her mental health though if she keeps going out and shooting pigeons. I'm pretty sure that that is not exactly normal. But then again, my sister isn't exactly normal either. "Would you rather I shoot you to get my frustration out?" Clary retorts to Jace.

"Well, we both know that if it means that you get to spend more time with me that you'll love it." He drops her a wink and she rolls her eyes.

"Let's play a game, it's called ten words to describe Jace!" She claps her hands together, feigning excitement. "I'll go first. Conceited, egotistical, narcissistic, cocky, obnoxious, insufferable, des-"

Jace puts his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay! I get it, now it's my turn," He ponders his choices for a second. "Attractive, stunning, amazing, breathtaking-"

"Dickhead?" Clary suggests sweetly. Ineffectively, I attempt to stifle my laughter. Jace glares at me and I smirk back. Silences stretches between us for a few minutes before I decide to break the awkwardness.

"I'm going to go watch TV…" I get off my seat and leave Clary and Jace to, hopefully, talk.

CLARY POV:  
"So…" Jace says as Jon leaves.

"So…" I repeat in the same tone as him.

"Do you want to erm… talk about what happened last night…?" Jace pauses. "About when we… kissed?" I mask my emotions and pretend that it doesn't mean anything to me. But in all truth, it meant everything. It just felt so right being there with Jace, I can't get it out of my head.

"Not everything is about you, Jace. It meant nothing to me, it was just some stupid dare. I felt absolutely nothing at all." It pains me just to say this and I can't look at Jace's face for fear of seeing his own hurtful expression that will do nothing but make me feel guilty.

"So that's why you ran off," he says sarcastically. "Because it meant absolutely nothing to you. That you didn't feel a thing?" He asks, surprising calm.

"That is what I just said, yes."

"That is the biggest load of crap that I have heard in a long time!" He snaps, his calm façade shattered and replaced with a barely contained rage.

"Jace," I say in a warning tone

"What?" He snaps angrily.

"Just don't." I warn Jace again.

"Why can't you just admit, Clary? Admit that you did feel something. Follow your heart for once! You said you liked me-"I cut him off.

I have never said that, how does he know? Did I say something whilst I was drunk? "I have never mentioned anything about liking you."

"Yes you did. This morning when you-"Jace stops himself there, realising his mistake. So someone was following me. But being too focused on where I was going, I hadn't actually thought to turn around and check. Stupid. Oblivious. Disappointing. Did he follow me all the way to the cemetery? How much did he hear? God, I bet now he thinks that I'm too messed up.

"Your sad life resulted in stalking now, Jonathan?" I ask coldly.

"I-I didn't mean-"

"You didn't mean to? Save it, Jace. I'm not in the mood for it. Forget everything you heard, do not tell anyone or I swear by the Angel that you will live to regret it. Never bring this up again. I'll forget this happened. You'll forget this happened. Never call me by _that_ name if you want live another day," Jace swallows but nods. I take a deep breath to calm myself. "So, do you wanna work on our music project?"

Jace gives a short laugh. "And you said _I'm_ bipolar." I can't help but laugh at this. I'm thankful that Jace did that though because otherwise it would be quite awkward. But in an odd way, I'm grateful that Jace did follow me – weird, I know – but at least now he knows more about me. I want Jace to know me but I just can't bring myself to let him in. So, now that he's found out more about me, it may be one step closer to him being able to understand me.

Out of the blue I say, "I think I'm going soft."

Jace takes a sip of his coffee before looking back up to me. "How so?"

"I didn't castrate you." I deadpan. Jace chuckles and I smile genuinely. I don't know why that whenever I'm with Jace this new care free side of me emerges.

"Let's go do this music thing then. Have you started a song yet?"

I shake my head. "I'm not really great with the subject." I say honestly.

"Love?" I nod. "What do you mean?"

"I just don't really know what it is or if it's even real. I just don't believe in it." I shrug

"Clary, love isn't something you choose to believe in, it's something that is always there, you just haven't seen it yet. But one day you will." Jace says, smiling sadly down at me.

"I really doubt that."

"Trust me, love is real. Love is beautiful," He shakes his head. "To the basement."

"Are you a serial killer who is taking me down to their basement to murder me?" I ask, with a straight face.

"You're just going to have to take that risk," He grins at me and I grin back. "Nah, my piano is down there."

"Lead the way Lightwood."

As we were still staying with the Lightwoods, Izzy decided that she was going to get me ready for school today. Let me just tell you that I am having the time of my life. Note the sarcasm, there's lots of it. Izzy attempted to get me to wear a skirt, I then threatened her that I would replace all her hair products with blue hair dye and put itching powder on all of her clothes. She then decided that I would look better in skinny jeans. 1 point to Clary. I'm not particularly happy with Isabelle at the moment because she made me cut my daily run short so she could 'make me pretty'.

By the time Izzy has finished doing my hair and make-up, we only have about five minutes until we'll have to leave for school. I hate to admit it, but I do look nice. The outfit I'm wearing is the same sort of clothes that I would usually wear but now there's a bit more colour added to the look. I'm wearing high-waisted acid wash skinny jeans, a turquoise tank top, my favourite leather jacket that goes everywhere with me and my trusty black combat boots. Izzy put on minimal make-up on me, just some eyeliner and mascara and a tiny bit of eye shadow. I do look good.

Okay, I'm sure now. Clarissa Adele Fairchild id going soft. I really need to go punch something. Or shoot something, shooting is always good. Especially when pigeons are around. They always want your food and squawk until you give them something. But I will not fool for that. No, I won't give those manipulative little bastards what they want; instead I give them death. I've always had a grudge against the creature since one stole my mint ice cream when I was three. I'm not exactly the forgiving kind, particularly when it has something to do with food.

After grabbing my bag, I head out the front door yelling to everyone that I'll see them at school later because I'm going on my bike. Oh, how I missed my baby. I wasn't allowed to ride it all weekend because they forced me to go in the car to places and be sociable. Instead, on our journeys I just plugged my earphones in and blocked out the rest of the world.

Things with Jace and I were slightly awkward at first but after a couple of hours, everything had gone back to the way it was before. Jace and I had made great progress on our music project although I had still yet to really grasp the concept of it all. We sung a few songs together and worked out how we were going to do things. And although it was homework really, I had a great time just hanging out with Jace. God, I sound like such a teenage girl!

When I see the school gates in the distance, I slow the speed down a bit as to not attract too much unwanted attention as I'm still seen as the 'new girl'. I park under a tree, stow my midnight black helmet away and walk into the school, heading towards my locker.

My lessons up until lunch went relatively smoothly, well as smooth as it can be when you're me. I pissed off Starkweather within the first five minutes of the lesson and was sent to big bad principal Garroway, who then laughed along with me as I told him what I had done to piss Starkweather off – throwing pencils up onto the ceiling and then seeing how long it would take for them to come back down. Unfortunately for me, one of the pencils fell from the ceiling tile as Starkweather came over to talk to me, it then bounced off his nose and landed in his pocket. I was laughing hysterically but obviously he didn't find it as amusing. Now that is an example of uptight. Then I spent the rest of first period in Luke's office, playing connect four with him. Of course, I won every single time (insert smug smile here). In Spanish, I corrected Mrs. Penhallow when she got her grammar wrong; we had a small disagreement (AKA a large argument that involves shouting at one another) whilst speaking Spanish and she then proceeded to send me out into the corridor for the rest of the lesson which I was quite content with. Then I gym we played dodge ball, as we were on a team together, Jace and I single handedly wiped out the other team in a matter of mere minutes.

Lunch went by in a blur with Jace and me teasing each other and Izzy gossiping about everything and anything that was worth gossiping about. So, mostly clothes and make-up. In music Jace and I worked further on our project and we were informed that we were to be performing all of it on Valentine's Day. Doesn't that just fit perfectly? At the rate we're going, we'll be finished by the end of January.

As I get changed for gym, I can't help but smile. I've been smiling and grinning all day long, I don't know why though but I can't wipe it off my face. It's like a permanent feature now but I see no reason as to why I should be happy; I haven't shot any birds yet. I dismiss it and carry on getting ready for gym.

When I see what we're doing today, my grin somehow grows bigger, I thought that would be impossible but evidently not. Set up in the gym is an army based assault course. I used to love doing these when I was younger but haven't really had the chance to do one for ages. The course itself consists of a net on the ground that you'll have to crawl under, a tall wooden wall, at least fifteen feet up, Then hoops that you'll have to swing from that are hanging from the ceiling, a balance beam that can't be any wider than a couple of centimetres, a few ladders here and there and at the end it looks like you have to climb up a large pole and then climb back down a ladder. As most of it is fairly high up, there are harnesses, not that I'll be using one. They restrict your movement and make your every move slower and therefore your time will be worse. I sit back and watch the rest of the class do the course, all of their times are over ten minutes. Pathetic. When Jon goes on the balance beam, he loses his footing and falls onto the beam screaming in pain repeating 'my balls, my balls!' I couldn't help but laugh. In my defence, most of the class were laughing at him as well. Jace's time was the best – 6:47 but I know that I can do much better than that. Everyone wore a harness and I'm pretty sure that coach is going to make me wear one, but what can I say, I'm not much of a listener.

I grin when coach finally tells me it's my turn. The second he starts the stopwatch I scramble underneath the net, effortlessly getting through without getting tangles in it like most people. Gathering momentum I sprinted to the wooden wall and launched myself up onto it, easily grabbing the top of the wall and throwing myself off the side and grasping a metal hoop with my right arm, my stronger arm. Without my grip faltering once, I swung from hoop to hoop until I see the balance beam a few feet below me. I drop myself onto the beam, landing on one foot. As I'm in a good mood I decide to show off and do a handstand on the narrow beam. I then walk, upside down on my hands, to the end. Without even realising it, I am climbing up the pole to the top where the ladder is and when I eventually get there I see that the ladders going to be too tedious to climb down so I just jump to the floor, which is twenty feet below me. Landing on two feet, I brush myself off and turn to see the whole class gaping at me.

"What have I done now?" I ask impatiently. "Whatever it is you think I have done, it wasn't me. Actually, that's a lie. Whatever it was, it probably _was_ me." This seems to break them out of their stupid daze that they were previously in.

"How did you do that so quickly? And so effortlessly? You've got 1:58!" Coach Carstairs sounded astounded.

"Damn it!" I say. "1: 58? I could've done better." I'm internally cursing myself at the moment

The whole class just looked at me incredulously. I shrug and then walk off to get changed.

The rest of the week passed somewhat normally with Jace and I pissing one another off and me constantly rolling my eyes and scoffing when Jace made a narcissistic comment. Izzy then proceeded to make googly eyes and love hearts with her hands whenever me and Jace were laughing at something. I then flipped her off. Amazingly, I only got sent to the principal's office three times. That's a new record, normally I'm sent there at least eight times a week. It has been confirmed, I am going soft. To resolve that, I went and shot pigeons and may or may not have got into a few bar fights and beat the crap out of a few biker guys. Yeah, I don't think I need to worry about going soft.


	12. Birthday

_**DAMAGED GOODS – CHAPTER 12 – Birthday**_

_**CLARY POV: **_  
"Morning, Red," Jace greeted me as I came through my front door.

"What the hell are you doing in my house at 6:30 on a Saturday morning?" I ask, surprised to see him this early.

"Well, I've got nothing to do today so I thought I'd come hang out with Jon. But," He says holding the word for longer than needed. "Your lazy ass brother is still asleep. I guess I'll be hanging out with you instead."

"You say it like that's such a terrible thing." I raise my eyebrows.

"Well, if you're going to be dresses like that then I think I'll be able to bear it." He smirks at me and then I realise what I'm wearing, there isn't much of it – spandex shorts and a sports bra. I feel the blood rush to my cheeks and throw a deadly glare at Jace.

"I bet you would like that, wouldn't you?"

"Very much." He responds.

"Too bad, I'm going to go train so make yourself comfy. Jon will wake up in about three hours." I smile sweetly at him and start making my way to the basement.

"Wait," I hear Jace call. I'm internally groaning. He runs over to me. "Can I train with you or something, I haven't had a proper work out in a few days." He says.

"Evidently. You're out of breath from running a few feet," He glares. "But no. This is my training room." He gives me the puppy dog look and I roll my eyes. Does he really think that's going to work on me? Nope.

"Clary," Jace pleads. "I swear that I won't get in your way, I'll shut up and just train. We don't even have to acknowledge each other." Then he adds. "Please."

"Whatever," I sigh. "But try not to kill yourself with the knives."

"You train with knives?" Jace asked, a hint of fear seeping into his voice. I smirk to myself.

"And guns." I add. I make my way down to the basement and switch the lights on. I turn to Jace who is looking surprised. "You like?" I ask.

"This. Is. Awesome." I smile. "You have everything down here." He scans the floor again and his eyes land on my shooting range. "Holy crap! Is that a freaking shooting range?"

"Yup." I say, popping the 'p'. "Do you know how to shoot a gun?" He shakes his head as a no. "I'm not going to show you because you'll probably blow my head off," I think about this for a second. "But I could show you how to do something else that I doubt you'll know how to do…"

"What?" He asks curiously.

"You know how to throw a dagger?"

"No," He replies. "Never really felt the need to learn it. Y'know with not being a serial killer and all, I didn't really think it would be the most useful skill." I roll my eyes.

"Maybe not but I know how to throw knives and I'm not a serial killer." I retort.

"Not _yet_." Jace adds. Lightly, I punch his arm. "Wow, Red," He says pretending to be hurt. "This is what it has come to, physically abusing me. I thought we had something special!" He then wipes an imaginary tear off his face.

"Has Izzy been giving you lessons in how to be a drama queen?" I enquire.

"Unfortunately, when you live with the most melodramatic person in the continent for most of your life, it tends to rub off on you." We laugh.

"So, you wanna do try the knives? I could teach you." He shrugs and I take this as an affirmative and lead him over to where the daggers are kept hanging on the wall.

"How many knives do you own?" He asks incredulously.

"A lot," I exclaim. "There is quite a few different types but we'll just use a normal throwing knife today."

"Is it weird that I'm in a basement with a person who could easily kill me with one of her knives, or guns, and I feel perfectly comfortable?" Jace muses aloud.

"If that person is me, than you'd be stupid not to be afraid." I tell him seriously.

"I wouldn't doubt that."

After grabbing a few knives then we head over to one of the several training dummies that I use for this kind of thing. "Okay, first things first. When throwing a knife at a person-"

"I thought I was learning how to throw a knife, not beheading for beginners." Jace points out.

"Pretty much the same thing," I shrug. "Anyways, as I was saying, don't aim for the heart. You would have to throw the knife with an exceptional amount of force to even scratch the heart let alone puncture it as there are the ribs to get through and other various bits. So, if you are going for a lethal shot, you're best bet would be their throat or lower stomach or some other vital organ. But NOT brain, that is not pretty!" I shudder. "Okay, you got that?"

"Yup, I think. Throat, lower stomach or vital organ." He recites. I smile. Absentmindedly, I pick up one of the blades and twirl it in my hand.

"So, throwing the knife. Step 1: wrap your fingers around the hilt of the blade like so," I demonstrate to him. "Step 2: Angle the blade. Slightly bend your wrist back toward your forearm. This will slightly increase the speed at which the knife will go," I push my right leg back slightly and place my weight on it. "Step 3: Place your weight on your dominant leg that is slightly behind your other leg. Step 4: when you are ready, bring up the arm in which the knife is held in front of you so that it is held perpendicular to the ground, and bend at the elbow so that the knife is raised alongside your head, but not too close so that you'll cut yourself." I follow the steps myself. "Step 5: Shift your weight back onto your non-dominant leg to create some momentum. At the same time, swing your forearm forward from the elbow so that your arm is straight out in front of you; this is when you release the blade. Breathe in. Aim. Breathe out." I then follow the same steps at the normal speed and the blade soars through the air and sinks true into the dummy's throat. "Do you want to give it a go?" I ask Jace.

"Yeah…" He says reluctantly. "What the hell, yeah!" He says with more conviction. I hand him a blade. With immense focus Jace goes through the stages as I had just taught him. The blade leaves his hand and there is a fair amount of force behind it. The knife buries itself in the left shoulder of the dummy and I turn to smile at Jace.

"You're not too bad, Goldilocks." I say quietly. Jace smiles at me and I return it. We stay staring at each other for a few minutes, just taking in the other. I get lost in his beautiful golden orbs. It's amazing how much emotion your eyes can convey. In Jace's though, I couldn't see anything except for one happiness and this, for some reason, made me happy. After a few minutes of silence I clear my throat.

"We'll work on your aim for a while and then we can go punch some things." I grin.

For a while, I help Jace and show him different techniques to use with the knives. After that, we do indeed go and punch things. For the rest of the morning me and Jace trained and laughed together. And I felt completely at home with Jace.

_**JACE POV:**_  
"Morning, Red." I greet Clary as she opens her locker. She shoves her stuff into the dented locker and smiles at me. She seems to be doing that a lot more recently, smiling, that is.

"¡Feliz cumpleaños!" _Happy birthday!_ She says quietly.

"How did you know it's my birthday?" I ask, it wouldn't be from Jon, he's too incompetent to remember.

"I saw it on your calendar in your kitchen last week." She informs me. Oh, that makes sense. "Off to math, then?" She asks, I nod. "So you having a big party to celebrate little Jacey wacey's birthday?" She teases.

"Nah, too much trouble. I'm not a big fan of birthdays." I say.

"Me neither. But if you had to pick then what would be your favourite birthday to date?" She asks. I ponder this over for a second and then remember my fifth birthday.

"My fifth birthday," I respond surely. She raises her eyebrows to tell me to expand. "I remember Robert telling me that I could have absolutely anything that I wanted so I asked for a spaghetti bath," She laughs and I chuckle a bit too. Before I can carry on though, Clary speaks.

"Wait, please tell me that he didn't actually let you have a bath, in spaghetti?!"

"He had said that I could have anything and that's what I had wanted, a bath in spaghetti. So, I had a spaghetti bath and that was the best birthday ever!" She shakes her head but is still laughing. "Miss Fairchild, lead the way to Hodge's hellish hour."

"You do know just because hour begins with an 'h' doesn't make it alliteration." Clary says smugly. I roll my eyes and she grins.

Starkweather went on and on and on! I resulted in playing flappy bird on my phone. If you have never played this game then shame on you! It is so annoyingly stupid but completely addictive. I'm crap at it but that can't stop me from trying. I'm so engrossed on the game that I don't even notice Clary lean in closer to me.

"You're quite crappy at flappy bird," She muses. I practically jump out of my skin. She smirks at me. "I was just going to say that the bell is about to go." She's still smirking. And as if on cue, the shrieking sound of the bell fills the classroom.

In art Clary basically draws my whole sketch for me as I am completely hopeless at it. And then when the teacher isn't looking we start flicking some of the paint on each other with paintbrushes. By the end of the hour my face is speckled with blue, pink and yellow. I also had a winky face on my forehead and on the back of my _white_ shirt, there is a small purple Clary sized hand print, I think it really brings the outfit to life! But then again, I do look good in anything so this is no change. Clary didn't get away with nothing though, she has a very nice red moustache and whiskers. Before Spanish we both went to the water fountain to try and wash the paint off. Little did we know that the paint was some special kind of fabric stuff so it wasn't going to come out! Clary and I laughed our heads off when we realised we were going to have to suffer the rest of the day looking like this.

We walked into Spanish trying not to laugh. When Mrs. Penhallow saw us, she looked horrified. That was it, I and Clary couldn't help it, and we both started laughing. Once we had eventually stopped laughing, Mrs. Penhallow was extremely pissed and sent us to the principal. As we enter see Luke glance up slightly and then glance back down. He blinks and then when he looks back up his eyes widen in surprise. Then he admires our amazing artwork.

"Do I even want to know what happened?" Luke asks exasperatedly.

"We got bored in art." Clary states simply whilst grinning like a maniac. Luke chuckles. "Did you bring monopoly in?" Clary asks. Luke nods and pulls out the board game. Clary then takes a seat and they start setting up the game.

Amused, I say, "Is this what you do every time Clary gets sent here?"

"Nope," Clary says. "Last week we played Operation." I roll my eyes. "Bugsy the dog!" Clary says.

"But I wanted the dog." Luke whines like a child. I watch the two of the squabble.

"Well I bugsy-ied it so you can't have it!" Clary then stuck her tongue out at him.

"I called dibs on it! Dibs is more powerful than bugsy." He argues.

"Not happening!" Clary sings. Luke huffs and instead picks up the wheelbarrow. "Jace what piece do you want?" Clary asks, turning to face me.

"I'll have the car." I respond and sit in the chair beside Clary.

Half of third period later, we're still playing monopoly and it's getting very heated. Clary is getting very frustrated because she is obviously losing whilst Luke is winning. When Clary lands on one of Luke properties, she almost screams.

"NOOOOOO!" She throws her hands up in the air dramatically. "No father of mine will make me bankrupt!" She cries.

"I won!" Luke whoops.

"I swear by the angel that if you do your victory dance that I will drug your tea." Clary says, annoyed. Luke narrows his eyes at her.

"You wouldn't." He challenges.

"Remember last year when Jon wanted to go to the empire state building and I didn't…" Clary grins mischievously.

"Yes… we didn't go because Jon fell unconscious…" A look of understanding crosses his features. Then he laughs. "You really hate the empire state building, don't you?!" Clary just grins again. Luke shakes his head, still laughing slightly.

"Wait," I say. "You drugged your brother because you didn't want to go somewhere?" Clary's face is the answer. "Jon would kill you if he found that out!" I chuckle. This is turning out to be a better birthday than I thought it would be. And that is all down to Clary.

"JACE OPEN THE GOD DAMN DOOR, JACE! IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY, YOUR RESPONSIBILITY!" Izzy screams to me.

"I'M NAKED, YOU GET IT!" I scream back.

"WHY ARE YOU NAKED?!" She screams from her room.

"BECAUSE I JUST HAD A SHOWER, DIMWIT!" I shout back from my own bedroom.

"WILL YOU TWO PUT A SOCK IN IT, I WAS TRYING TO READ MANGA IN PEACE!" Our little brother Max shouts.

"NO!" Both I and Izzy shout in unison.

"OH FOR THE ANGEL'S SAKE, SHUT UP!" Alec screams, effectively shutting us all up. Not, we just shout louder.

"I CAN'T GET IT IF I AM NAKED, CAN I?!"

"GOD, YOU ARE ALL SO LAZY! I'LL GET IT!" Max finally shouts. There was no way I was going to back down, neither was Izzy. This happened a lot and usually it was either Max or Alec who would give up first. I hear light footsteps running down the stairs, Max going to the front door. Hastily, I threw some clothes on and ran downstairs to see who was at the door. I hear a familiar laugh sounding from the living room.

"No, you read it like this. See?"

"OH! That makes so much more sense now!" Max says happily.

"Hey, Max, who was at the door?" I ask as I step through the door.

"Your friend, she came here to give you a present." Max grins toothily.

"Hey," Clary says.

"Hey," I respond

"Oh, would you just kiss already?" Max says. Clary's head snaps around.

"Max, she is not my girlfriend." I say sternly.

"But she's really pretty, why not?" Max whines like a kid, well, because he is a kid.

"I agree but we're only friends. Now, why don't you go back to your room and read that manga whilst Clary and I talk." I look at him pleadingly.

"Okay, I'll see you soon, Clary." He smiles and then unexpectedly hugs Clary. She wraps her arms around him and whispers something in his hear. His face lights up and Max grins widely. "That would be sooooo cool! Thank-you thank-you thank-you!" Max then runs out of the room, literally jumping for joy.

"What did you say to my brother?" I ask Clary sceptically.

"I said that I would take him to forbidden planet at some point." She says.

"Please tell me that forbidden planet is not some murderous cult that you are part of." I say jokingly.

Gasping, she says, "How did you know?" We laugh together. "Anyway I got you a small gift…" She says.

"You didn't have to do that," I say instinctively. "But thanks."

She shrugs her shoulders. "I wanted to get you something. Oh, by the way, my idiot of a brother told me to say happy birthday because he forgot." I chuckle.

"Didn't expect anything more of him."

"He really is a bit of a moron sometimes."

"Yup!" I agree.

"So present…" Clary takes small metal case out of her bag. It's about the size of a tissue box and looks like it is unbreakable. She hands it over to me, the cold metal brushing against the warmth of my hand lightly. "I didn't know what to get you but I thought that with these you'll be able to practice by yourself if you every wanted to." I flick open the lid and slowly lift the top off. I look at what's inside the case the glance back to Clary who is looking at me nervously, fidgeting and playing with the hem of her shirt. I've haven't see Clary like this, so unsure of herself. She sighs when she looks at me. "You don't like it, do you?" She asks sadly. My eyes grow wide.

"Clary, no, I like it! I love them!" She looks relieved when I say that and I smile.

In the case are three small throwing knives. The two on the either side are a plain black knife with a small pair of wings etched into the hilt of the blade and my name inscribed onto it. The knife in the middle has an emerald green hilt with the same design of angel's wings on it and my full name again. But on the actual blade there is a small inscription. It reads: 'you're not too bad, Goldilocks.' And then below that, it says Clary. The blade fits perfectly in my hand.

"Clary, this is the best give you could have gotten me." I smile. And then Clary does something extremely uncharacteristic of her – she hugs me. I'm shocked for a second at her show of affection but then relax and wrap my arms round her. When she pulls away she grins at me.

"I'm glad you like it."

"I love it." I breathe out. "How did you even get these in under _three_ days?"

"I know some people…" She says attempting to sound mysterious.

"I'm sure you do." We both grin. "You want to stay for dinner, Maryse is making lasagne." I ask.

"Well, if it's lasagne than I can't decline your offer, can I?"

"Even if you wanted to go, I wouldn't let you." I state. Clary raises her eyebrows at me.

"You wouldn't be able to stop me." Clary says cockily.

"Wanna bet?" I ask with the same level of cockiness.

"Yes." We keep eye contact for a few seconds before Clary sprints out of the living room. I run after her and see a flash of red go into the kitchen. I run over there and am greeted with Maryse turning to smile at me.

"Have you seen a small very short redhead running through here at all?" I ask.

"Why no, I don't think I have. You playing hide and seek with your friends again?" My adoptive mother teases. I roll my eyes and scan the room for Clary.

"These strawberries are delicious." Clary? I look up to see Clary sitting comfortably on a wooden beam near the ceiling, eating strawberries. Maryse looks up and then shrieks very loudly. Alec comes pounding down the stairs and into the kitchen carrying a baseball bat.

"What is it?!" He asks, breathless. Clary and I start laughing. When Alec glances up to see Clary perched on the beam he sighs and rolls his eyes. "How the hell did you even get up there?" He asks Clary.

"Crazy ninja skills." Both I and Clary say in unison. We lock gazes and laugh even harder. Alec shakes his head and puts his bat down.

"Would anyone like to explain why there is a crazy ninja sitting on a wooden beam in my kitchen?" Maryse asks, slightly bemused.

Surprisingly, it's Clary who answers. "I'm not a crazy ninja, I just have crazy ninja _skills_." She explains.

"Were you running away from Jace?" Maryse asks.

"You'd have to be crazy not to, Jace is a hazard." I glare at Clary who just grins back.

"I like her." Maryse states, smiling.

"So because she basically insults your son, you like her?" I put a hand to my heart. "That hurts. That hurts right here." I say pointing to my heart.

"Would you like me to kiss it better, Jacey?" Mum says.

"Ew, ew, ew! No, get away!" I say. Clary, Maryse and Alec laugh, I huff and flip Alec off. He grumbles something. "How long until dinner, I'm hungry." I whine.

"You're always hungry." Clary states.

"Yeah, but so are you." I defend myself.

"True." Clary agrees.

"Are you going to come down from there at all or are you looking into becoming an ape. I think you could fit in with them. Maybe Caesar might let you help him with his world domination plan," I muse aloud, think about the movie 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes'. "You would definitely be a valuable asset with you crazy ninja skills."

"I know right," Clary sighs. "But the blasted ape didn't want me. Probably because he knew I'd show him up. Plus I'm much prettier than him."

"Yes, that would probably be because he is an ape whereas you are a homo sapien." I point out.

"Apes can be attractive," she argues. "In their own weird little monkey way." I laugh at her stubbornness. Clary then drops from the beam onto the ground directly in front of me. "Told you that you couldn't get me." She smiles smugly before doing an odd little victory dance around the kitchen with Maryse and me staring at her like she is a lunatic.

"Is she quite okay?" Maryse whispers.

"I don't know. I think she was most likely dropped as a baby." I whisper back, knowing that Clary heard us.

"I heard that," Clary says in a sing-song voice. "But because it's your birthday I won't rip your balls off. But FYI I wasn't dropped as a baby; I forgot to take my crazy pills today." She says the last bit seriously and Maryse looks at me nervously. Yeah, Clary does that to you. "I'm just messing with you!"

"Oh, thank god!" Maryse visibly relaxes. "I thought we had a murderous psychopath in our midst! Jace, can you call everyone down, dinner's ready."

"Oh, can I do it?" Clary asks excitedly.

"Knock yourself out."

Then at the top of her lungs Clary screams up the stairs. "DINNER'S READY, MOVE IT NOW OTHERWISE I'LL EAT IT ALL!" I swear that someone the other side of the country would probably have heard her. She turns back to me, smiling manically. I roll my eyes and we go and sit down at the table. Everyone else comes rushing down the stairs and into the dining room.

"Since when did your voice sound so girly, Jace?" Izzy asks as she sits down at the table.

"Iz, are you actually blind?" Clary asks.

"No, Clary, I'm not blind," Izzy rolls her eyes and then looks up with a confused expression. "When did our little redhead get here?"

We all laugh. "Wasn't Clary the one who dared you the other day?" My mother asks.

"Yes, she was." Iz says whilst grinning at Clary.

"I didn't think that was funny." Maryse exclaims.

"Evidently not," Clary says without thinking. "Oops, I don't really have any filter."

"Really," I say, my voice dripping sarcasm. "I hadn't noticed."

"Hey, Jace," She says innocently. "How long do you want your manhood to be attached to your body. 'Cause by the rate you're going at I'm predicting not very long." She bats her eyelashes sweetly. I swallow but stay silent. She then smirks triumphantly. Then after a moment I remember that I have leverage over her.

"Do you remember that time that you drugged Jon, Clary?" I ask her gently.

"You drugged your brother?" Alec asked, incredulous.

Clary shrugged. "He was being annoying and wouldn't stop talking about some dude on some team in some state so I may or may not have slipped something in his tea."

I smirk at her. "I was talking about when you didn't want to go see the empire state building." Her mouth shapes into an 'o' in realisation.

"Can I just clear this up," Clary says, addressing my adoptive parents, Robert and Maryse. "I'm not _completely_ insane."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Red."

Clary glares at me. The rest of the meal went well with Clary and I teasing each other. Maryse and Robert took a liking to Clary even though she was in an especially crazy mood. After Clary went home Maryse came up to me and said playfully: "You loooooove her."

The thing is though, I'd be lying if I said I didn't.


	13. The sister's approval

DAMAGED GOODS – CHAPTER 13 – The sister's approval

CLARY POV:  
"What are you so happy about?" Jon asks curiously.

"Nothing." I say not sounding attentive at all, my mind is elsewhere. Jon smiles at me knowingly.

"The last few days you've just seemed like you were… happy. And when you got back from Jace's earlier you were smiling. And now, every now and then you smile randomly like you were thinking about something. So what's the big thing that happened? Also, why the hell are you still in my room at," He glances up to his clock. "At midnight?"

I laugh quietly, as to not wake up my parents. "It's nothing really," Jon gives me a disbelieving look. I sigh. "Well, I just realised that I should at least try and enjoy myself a bit and I kind of am."

"Let me guess, by shooting defenceless birds because they stole your food?" My brother suggests.

"No…" I say slowly. "Although that does give me a bit of a kick." He rolls his eyes.

"But seriously, Clary," Jon says, his carefree mood changing. "What actually happened? Not that I'm complaining or anything; I'm glad that you're finally happy."

"I wouldn't stretch as far as happy… more like contended with the way in which I am currently spending my life." I smile slightly.

"There's something – or someone," He waggles his eyebrows suggestively and then I punch him lightly on his arm. "You've been smiling ever since you came back from-"He cuts himself off, looking like he was slowly putting the last few pieces of a puzzle in place. "Jace's house." He finishes with a sigh. "You know what, I'm happy that you've finally opened up to someone that isn't your amazing brother."

I smirk at him. "Amazing is going a _tad_ too far, don't you think?" He rolls his eyes but is still smiling. "And, no, it's not Jace. We do NOT like each other like that. It's just that for the first time in years that I feel safe and calm. I want to enjoy that time whilst it is there."

"You don't think it could stay like this forever?" Jon asks seriously.

"I do. In time, all god things are lost," I lock eyes with my brother. "I believe that there is a big – huge – storm brewing. A storm that might just change everything. This is the calm before the storm. So, I might as well just try and be happy when I still have the chance."

"You're talking like you don't think you would be there." He says through gritted teeth, suddenly sounding very worried and anxious.

"That's because I don't think will." I say, barely a whisper but like a scream in the now deathly silent room. Jonathan doesn't say anything for a few moments, he doesn't break eye contact either. He just stares at me, as if he was silently scanning me to make sure that I hadn't gone _completely_ insane.

"Don't say things like that." Jon snaps.

"I can say it if I think that it is the truth."

"Just don't." Jon says, now seething. He takes a few breaths before looking at me again. "New topic. What did you do round Jace's."

"Not much, I gave him the present I got him and then stayed round for dinner. I'm pretty sure that his mum and dad think that I need to go to a mental institute," Jon snorts. "I was in a particularly _odd_ mood this evening."

"Yeah, before you left you were like a retired assassin who went to the dark side and breeds cats with opposable thumbs so that they can be your cute and fluffy slaves." Jon says, clearly amused by his own comments. Dork.

"I think I'd look quite good being a crazy cat lady, do you agree?"

"Definitely!" Jon says surely. "Then when you shoot down innocent pigeons you could feed them to your cats. This is perfect!" He is definitely too excited about me becoming a cat lady. Am I really that bad that he had to result to this to get me out of the house? I feel hurt. Oh so hurt. Assface. "Y'know, we haven't done this since we were kids," He says quite wistfully actually. "Me and my sister hanging out in the middle of the night, eating chocolate that we stole from the kitchen cupboard. I miss it. I miss you, my little baby sister. But now, now I think you're coming back. Slowly but surely, my little sister is coming back to us and it can all be the same as it was a decade ago." His voice is hopeful. But it's a pragmatic fantasy.

"Jon, I don't think anything will ever go back to the way it was before." I say as gently as possible for me. He nods solemnly and hangs his head, staring down at the floor where my hands are clasped. We sit like this in a somewhat of an uncomfortable silence. That is, until Jon spoke.

"I thought you got rid of your ring." Jon says with his brows furrowed. I knew instantly what ring he meant – the Morgenstern family ring. A steel ring with a large block 'M' indented on the top and a star on either side of the ring to represent the morning star – Morgenstern. Only three of them ever made. One is buried six feet under the ground with _him_. Jon has the second one in his safe. The third Morgenstern ring had belonged to me but when Valentine had died and I had moved to New York, I didn't want to remember that I was related in any way to him. I wanted to completely forget the name Morgenstern, erase it from my memories. To never have to remember my father. But of course I could not just forget all of this. It was, after all my name. My blood. But to take a small weight off my shoulders, I threw my ring away. Just threw it into the Hudson and walked away.

"Yeah, I did," I answer Jon. "Why do you say?" I ask seizing another piece of chocolate.

"I'm guessing you stole mine then." What?

"What do you mean 'I'm guessing you stole mine'?" I ask, getting slightly irritated. "What did I steal?"

"My ring." He replies plainly. It's only when I glance down at my right hand that I see it – the Morgenstern ring. How the hell is it there? I definitely did not put that on. Maybe Jon did this as some kind of pathetic little joke. That's it, it's just a joke. I am so going to kick his ass.

"I haven't stolen you ring, ass. Stop the game, it's not funny." He didn't do what I expected. I thought he would burst out laughing, say that I should've seen my face or something, but he didn't. He did something much more unnerving than that, He just stared at the ring, not taking his eyes off it once. Jon's bedroom was once again silent. Silently, he studied the ring closely before leaning backwards again.

"That's not my ring," He states. "Mine has a small chip from where I punched a lamppost." I grin.

"Why did you punch a lamppost?" I ask, trying to stifle my laugh with a hand.

"It wasn't working so I thought it might help."

"Real clever," I snort. "Don't worry though, there's plenty of nice homes for people like you to go to. The people there are really nice." Jon glares at me but there is a smile tugging at his lips.

"Ha-ha. Aren't you funny?" He asks dryly. I smirk.

"Why yes, yes I am." Not for the first time, Jon rolls his eyes. "You need a girlfriend." I tell him.

"Pray tell, why do I need a girlfriend?" He asks.

"Because you're only either at soccer practice or on the Xbox. You need to get a life. So, get a girlfriend. I'm going to help you with finding one. She has to have my stamp of approval-"

"Of course I need queen Clarissa's consent to date someone." He says teasingly, I just roll my eyes and carry on with what I was saying.

"Aaaaand then you won't be such a loner anymore." I pat his shoulder condescendingly.

"You're a bit of a loner." Jon argues.

"Yes, that's because I'm not really the greatest fan of human interaction. There has been too many times to count when I just wanted to rip Izzy or Magnus's heads off when they were talking about clothes and shopping and all that crap. I mean, who cares about freaking gilet-"

"It isn't said like that. It's pronounced _jee-lay _not_ gee-lit _like you said it." Says Jon, effectively cutting me off. I groan.

"Not you as well," I sigh. "It's bad enough having two fashion obsessed friends, we do NOT need one more!" I close my eyes and fall to the floor. I can hear Jon chuckling.

"I know you're avoiding the serious matter at hand." Jon says after he's stopped laughing. "The ring, Clary. It's not mine, it can't be yours… or _his_. So whose is this?" He locks eyes with me. "The more important question: how did it get onto your hand?" I shrug, pretending that I am unaffected with how the ring is on my finger. I'm pretty sure that he can see through my calm charade but doesn't say anything else. "We'll chase it up tomorrow or something. Chocolate?"

It's only when my mother barges into Jon's room at three in the morning do we go to sleep. Mum wasn't extremely happy that we were up that late on a school night but we argued and said that it was her fault that she didn't hide the chocolate well enough. That was a mistake on our parts. I've learnt now to never piss mum off in the mornings, it the most pretty thing to see. Jon and I talked about lots, joking and laughing mostly, but I enjoyed myself, it was almost like when we were kids. Almost being the key word. There was always just that one thing that felt a little bit… off. We were talking freely but it just wasn't the same as when we were children.

My last thought before I let the darkness consume me is how I need to check the fingerprints out on this piece of crap ring.

"Operation find brother a girl commences." I mutter to myself as I walk through the car park and into the school building.

Throughout the first three lessons I have been scouting out for someone who Jon could date. So far there had been nobody who I thought was nearly good enough for my brother. All the people I had considered were all just a bit… bleugh. But there's this girl in my gym class – Charlotte, I think her name was – who I think is okay. I could ask her. Might as well try. Although I don't see the problem with it, Jon doesn't want to die alone. This is a good place to start.

Instead of going over to meet Izzy like I usually do in gym, I walk over to Charlotte who is stretching out. I stand beside her and start stretching as well. "Charlotte, right?"

"Charlie, please. And you are Clary." She responds.

"The one and only." I say. She giggles slightly. "Are you single?" I ask bluntly, getting to the point. She nods her head as a yes. "Ok. You're going out on a date with m-"

"I'm sorry," She says, stopping me midway through my sentence. "I don't swing that way." I laugh, I laugh quite a lot actually that I earn a few dirty looks from my class mates I flip them off and glare at them.

"I was going to say my brother." Her cheeks redden in embarrassment and apologises. I think Jon will like her. "Date with my _brother_." I clarify.

"That sounds cool." She writes her number on a scrap of paper and then I give her Jon's. With a smug smile, I dance to where our little group is standing. I smirk at Jon who raises an eyebrow and inclines his head slightly towards Charlotte. "I got you her number. And I approve." I can see Jon eyeing the piece of paper in my hand. "So, do you want to say that I'm the most amazing person there has ever been and that you wish you could only be 10% as spectacular as me… Or this little bit of paper might just somehow find its way to the bin." I grin devilishly at him and he groans.

Then he shouts at the top of his lungs. "CLARISSA FAIRCHILD IS THE MOST AWESOME PERSON IN THE WORLD! I WISH THAT I COULD BE EXACTLY LIKE HER, SHE'S JUST THAT COOL! JUST TO CLARIFY, MY SISTER, CLARISSA IS AMAZING. HERE IS HER NUMBER, 0-"

He doesn't get past zero as I clamp my hand over his mouth and push him over so hard we both fell onto the grass. Like the moronic idiot that he is, he was grinning. I rolled my eyes and stood up but not without discreetly flipping him off. I then start to jog a quick warm up lap.

"Hey, Red?" Jace calls out to me. I slow my pace slightly, allowing him to catch up with me. "I've finished all our stuff for music. And we've finished to duet so all we need now to have it finished is your song."

"Oh, it's done. If you grab a lift from Jon tonight and I'll show you it." I say.

"Oh that's good. I guess now we don't have to worry about seeing each other more than we want to." He jokes but there is an underlying emotion to his voice that I can't quite understand. Sadness maybe, but why would that be.

"Yep and I don't have to listen to your god-awful narcissistic comments whenever we play a song." I say teasingly.

When Jace and I arrive back at my house after school, I make sure that he is in my music room before I head into my room to check out what happened with the prints of the ring. When I check the laptop to see the results, I'm extremely disappointed – no matching prints. I don't know who the hell could have got the stupid ring but there's something wrong about the whole situation. Something just seems a bit… off.

I shrug the thought off and go downstairs to get Jace and I some drinks.

_**JACE POV:**_  
I don't know why but earlier when I realised that me and Clary wouldn't be spending as much time together, a little piece of me broke. I mean it's not like we're not friends or anything, I'll still see her every day and all the time when I am at their house. But I just felt like this music project was what kind of made us friends and I'm worried that without it Clary will just go back to being by herself. Something this small shouldn't even bother me; but it does. Because it's about Clary and I.

I'm not even denying it now. I love Clary. I've stopped telling myself that I don't, because I do. I am totally and insanely in love with Clarissa Fairchild. But she doesn't feel the same. She sees us as friends, if that. Damn it! How can I go from being my old careless girl-using self to this? A soppy pathetic mess. SHE IS DRIVING ME CRAZY!

Deep breaths, deep breaths…

Clary comes back into her music room with our drinks and a pack of Oreos.

"Thanks," I say as she hands me my drink. "So, once you show me your song then we can quickly practice it all and then we'll be done, I guess. Out of each other's hair." I attempt to say it jokingly but my voice comes out strained and uneven.

"Yup," Clary says, popping the 'p'. "We are totally going to ace music!" I nod in agreement. "Jon isn't here tonight so do you wanna watch a movie afterwards 'cause I've got absolutely nothing to do?"

"Where is he?" I ask, curiously. Most of the time Jon just stays in and plays on the Xbox, for him to have plans is a very rare occurrence.

"I got him a date. Y'know Charlotte from gym?"

"Yeah, she's okay. You set those two up?"

"Yep, Jon really needs to get a life," I chuckle. "So, movie?"

"Sure."

"Avengers?" She asks excitedly, a sparkle in her emerald eyes.

"Sure, whatever, Red."

"Okay, Yellow." She responds cheerily, I scowl.

"Yellow?" I ask incredulously. In response she nods her head. "Not yellow. How about… sexy beast or sex god."

"Ooh, I've got one!" Clary claps her hands, feigning excitement. "Attractive asshole!"

I don't miss a beat replying. "So you think I'm attractive then, Red." I state, smirking smugly at her. "Go on, say it. Say that I'm the most attractive person that you have ever seen and you are blinded by my godly looks. We all know it's true, there's no need to be ashamed."

"I really do feel sorry for Alec and Iz," She says, whilst looking bored and picking at her nails. "I don't know how I would be able to survive living in the same household as someone who is as moronic and conceited as you. I don't think I'd be able to survive."

"Well obviously you'd fair just fine, you do after all live with Jon." We laugh together and joke around for a few more minutes.

It's been a few weeks since that day when I and Clary had met up at her house to finish our music project, Jon and Charlotte – or Charlie, as she likes to be called – are now together and everybody is happy, that is except Clary. Something has been wrong with her. I don't know what it is but every now and then she would just completely zone out and then when she came back, she wouldn't talk at all for the next few hours. I do not have a clue what is going on with her and every single time that I have tried to question her about it she flips out at me and I can't do anything. She's slowly going back into her shell and rebuilding the walls that she partially let down since we became friends. And it kills me that I can't do anything to help her through whatever she is going through.


	14. It truly is Valentine's Day

**I know I said no author's notes but I do not own any of the songs in this chapter:  
-Love Story by Taylor Swift  
-Love is Forever by Muse  
-Desting by Jim Brickman**

**Also, when they are singing the duet, Bold is both of them, **_Italics is Clary_** and **normal is Jace.

_**DAMAGED GOODS – CHAPTER 14 – It truly is Valentine's Day**_

_**JACE POV: **_  
"God, they're all so obnoxious!" Clary complained from next to me. We're walking down the school on Valentine's Day and EVERYONE is making out. I think it's quite funny how because people don't want to be alone today they just get a date and really don't care who it is. "I mean, seriously what is the big deal about one day? February 14th, it happens every single year! Why is everyone so… so pathetic on this day every year?!" I laugh at her. When all our friends started sucking face in the parking lot, Clary and I fled, not wanting to feel like third wheels, or in this case, seventh and eighth wheels.

"It really quite annoying, isn't it?" I ask.

"It's pestiferous," I raise an eyebrow. "It's a fitting adjective and it sounds good." She snaps. "Problem?" I just laugh and she glares at me for a second but then joins in. Then, out of the blue, Clary starts shouting as loudly as she can down the corridor. "CAN YOU MOVE YOUR USELESS ASSES, I REALLY DON'T NEED TO SEE THE WHOLE POPULATION OF THE SCHOOL SUCKING FACE!" For a few seconds, everything is silent and every single person is staring at Clary in shock. "DID YOU NOT HEAR ME?!" This snaps everyone out of their reverie. Literally everybody turns around and start getting their stuff out of the lockers. They all avoid eye contact with Clary. I have got to admit Clary is extremely intimidating when she gets pissed off. As we walk towards our lockers, anyone who as much as looks at Clary is rewarded with a death glare.

As soon as we arrive at our lockers, we both start laughing hysterically. "They looked… like… terrified… mice!" Clary says in between laughs. Once we recover from our little laughter fit we grab our books and make our way to Starkweather's class and into a day of hell.

As expected, today so far has been horrendous. In all of my classes, everyone has been making googly eyes at their 'special someone'. It's unbearable. Hopefully at lunch not everyone will be attacking each other's face.

When I sit down at our table, I'm relieved that none of the three couples are making out. I don't know where Clary is but I don't think I'll be able to survive here if they do start sucking face. As if God hates me, Charlie and Jon start making out, I groan in frustration but that doesn't stop them. A couple of minutes later Simon and Izzy start at it. Clary, where are you?! God must hate me is what I'm thinking when Alec and Magnus lean in. I close my eyes and pray to everything that is holy that Clary comes soon.

As if on cue, Clary sits down beside me. She takes one glance at all our friends before slamming a fist onto the table with so much force that they all flinch and turn to see an impatient redhead staring at them. "Hello." Clary says with a surprising amount of bitterness in her voice.

"Someone forgot to take their bitch pills." Izzy's attempt at a joke doesn't go down very well.

"Oh, I am so incredibly sorry that this entire school is full of obnoxious, mindless zombies that are all programmed to do one thing – suck face." Clary says, incredibly irritated.

To everyone's surprise it was Alec who talked. "Are you pissed because you don't have a date?" He asks softly, trying not to unleash the hulk, erm, I meant Clary.

"I really couldn't care less about that," Clary takes a bite out of her apple before continuing. "It's just I really don't see the importance of this one day. _Valentine's_ Day, I just don't understand why everyone is so happy about it…" She sighs.

"Wait," Iz says. "You're pissed because you don't understand it?" Clary nods. "So you don't care that we're all kissing?" Izzy asks Clary cautiously.

"Couldn't care less," Clary responds. "Suck face all you want." We all laugh, thankful for the tension breaking.

"Clary," Jon says. "I know you don't like this day and all… you know with it being _Valentine's_ Day." Jon over pronounces the word 'Valentine's' and Clary head shoots up to send him a stone cold glare.

"Stop being such an immature dick, Jonathan." Clary says slowly, still staring at her brother. "Of course that's not why. I could not care less about _him_."

Now it clicks. Valentine's Day – Valentine. Their father. Oh…

"Clare, I was just trying to be nice." Jon says, obviously frustrated with Clary.

"Well I don't need you to be 'nice'." Clary mockingly puts finger quotes around the last word.

"Clary." Jon says in a warning tone.

"Did I ever ask you to be nice?"

"I'm your brother. I have to be nice, Clare." He says.

"Oh, so you feel obligated to. You don't actually want to. I mean we are talking about _me_ here, don't worry. I would understand, Jonathan." Her voice is clipped and short like she is on the verge of shouting.

"Clary, you're twisting my words." Jon says, in an equally as frustrated voice.

"No, I'm speaking the truth, Jonathan." She spits his name out.

"Clarissa," He says sharply. "We do not have to do this. Everything has been fine, it _can_ stay that way."

"Oh, but there you are wrong, brother," Clary says, adopting a scary calm attitude. "I can feel it. This is the beginning but the storm is here. The calm is all gone now." I have absolutely no idea what she is going on about but it kinda makes her sound a little bit – a lot – crazy.

"There is no storm. There doesn't have to be." Jon tells her, his anger slowly dissipating.

"You're being blind. How can you not tell? Something is going to happen. I'm not sure what but I just know that something will. Call me crazy all you like but I am certain." Clary argues.

"GOD DAMN IT, CLARISSA!" Jon shouts, attracting quite a students' attention. "YOU'RE DOING THIS FOR ATTENTION. YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW YOU BEING LIKE THIS AFFECTS OTHER PEOPLE! ALL YOU EVER THINK ABOUT IS YOURSELF! YOU'VE NEVER BEEN THERE WHEN I NEEDED YOU. I WAS ALWAYS THERE FOR YOU THOUGH!"

Clary swallow, obviously taken aback by her brother's outburst. "Did you really just say that?" Clary asks, her voice dangerously low.

Jon seems to realise the effect of the words he said has had on her. "Clar-"

"Don't." Clary says menacingly, Jon closes his mouth. "You are a manipulative, self-serving son of a bitch." Clary shakes her head, still not realising that basically everybody is staring at them. I swear these people are such gossips. "You are exactly like him." Clary whispers, just loud enough for me to hear.

"Clary…" Jon seems at a loss for words.

"YOU BASTARD! YOU ARE JUST LIKE HIM, JONATHAN CHRISTOPHER!" Clary screams. Hastily, she picks up her bag and stalk out of the cafeteria leaving everyone gawking at her as she raced down one of the corridors. As soon as she turned a corner and was out of sight there was an uproar of loud whispering and gossiping that filled the cafeteria. Jon puts his head in his hands. Charlie attempts to comfort her boyfriend by drawing circles on his back, it doesn't work very well. After a few minutes of silence at our table, Jon looks up.

"I should probably go and find her…" He says.

"No," Iz objects. "Did you see her face? I have no doubt in my mind that if she saw you that she would actually murder you." For once, I actually agree with my sister. "Stay here, Jon. Let her cool down. She'll come around soon. Don't worry about it." Iz says encouragingly.

"She isn't going to 'cool down', Iz. I've really messed up. I don't even know what possessed me to say that to her. It's just…" He sighs, not finishing what he was going to say.

"Jon, it'll all be fine by tomorrow," Izzy says like there is no other thing that would happen. "Who were you talking about by the way?" At Jon's look of confusion, Iz carries on. "She said that you're like 'him'. Who is 'he'?" Seriously, Isabelle Sophia Lightwood, you really need to learn this thing called boundaries. Because you so obviously just crossed one. I am mentally face palming right now. Sometimes it is shameful to call her my sister! Alec has it worse though, at least I do not share the same blood.

To my surprise Jon does actually answer. "Her demon." Is what he says. Nobody says anything after that; for the rest of lunch we sit in an awkward silence where the only thing you can hear is the rain falling against the windows. Maybe Clary was actually talking literally about a storm. Yeah… no. I thoroughly doubt that.

When the bell rings to indicate the end of lunch, we all stand up and wordlessly walk to our next classes. Today we're performing our music projects and I think Clary is going to be in a great mood so yay for me! That wasn't sarcasm at all… Yeah, it kinda was.

Sighing, I open the door to the music room and step. Automatically, I scan the room for Clary. Nowhere to be found. I take a seat and wait. When the teacher arrives, Clary still hasn't come. I'm starting to get slightly worried about her. What if she went and did something impulsive like lying in the middle of a busy road because it's relaxing. That _is_ the kind of thing Clary would do.

"Today class," The teacher starts, as cheery as ever. "You are all going to perform your projects that you and your partner have made." She is rewarded with a chorus of groans from the class. "Now, don't be like that. About a month and a half ago you started this project and the project was called… LOVE!" She finishes dramatically and at the same time the door to the class room bursts open.

"I know I'm amazing but you can't love me, you're already married," Says the unmistakable voice of Clary Fairchild. "It would be scandalous. Plus, I don't swing that way." This causes most of the class to laugh but after one look from Mrs. Blackthorn they stop.

"So, Miss. Fairchild, you decided you would join us." She says through gritted teeth.

"Awwww," Clary says mockingly. "Did you miss me?"

"No I did not. Now take a seat and you can tell the whole class where you have been that was obviously better than attending this class." Mrs. Blackthorn scolds her.

"Anywhere is better than this lesson but if you insist on the specifics…" Clary drawls. As slowly as she can, just to annoy the teacher further I suspect, Clary walks over to me and grabs a chair. Both I and the teacher now survey Clary. She's dripping wet and her make-up is slightly smudged. The last thing I notice is that her knuckles are split like she has been punching something. Knowing Clary, she probably has.

"Clarissa, you are soaking wet." The teacher states the obvious.

"Aren't you clever?" Clary says sarcastically.

"Were you outside, is that why you are wet?" She pushes.

"No," Clary says, her voice bursting full of sarcasm. "I thought I'd go for a quick swim in the non-existent sea. That's why I'm wet." She rolls her eyes. "No of course I was outside, are you thick?" Mrs. Blackthorn's nostrils flare and she has to take a few breaths to contain her anger.

"Just be quiet, Clarissa." Clary smirks triumphantly but nonetheless keeps quiet.

"As I was saying before Clarissa rudely interrupted us," Clary then stands up and bows, causing the class to snigger and the teacher to glare. Ignoring Clary, she carries on. "Today you are going to perform your songs. Clary and Jace, would you like to go first."

"Nope." Clary says, popping the 'p'.

"It wasn't a request." She says.

"Well then you shouldn't phrase it like a question." Clary snaps.

Mrs. Blackthorn sighs. "Fine then. Clary and Jace, you are going first."

"Better." Clary appraises condescendingly. Begrudgingly, Clary grabs a guitar. "It's called Love Story." She says sounding like she would rather be any place but here. I smile encouragingly and she rolls her eyes. Worth a try. She starts to strum the intro. As soon as she starts to sing, the room falls into silence. Clary has that effect on people when she sings, she really is amazing.

"_We were both young when I first saw you.  
I close my eyes and the flashback starts:  
I'm standing there on a balcony in summer air._

_See the lights, see the party, the ball gowns.  
See you make your way through the crowd  
And say, 'Hello,'  
Little did I know..._

_That you were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles,  
And my daddy said, "Stay away from Juliet"  
And I was crying on the staircase  
Begging you, 'Please don't go'  
And I said..._

'_Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone.  
I'll be waiting; all that's left to do is run.  
You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess,  
It's a love story, baby, just say, Yes.'_

_So I sneak out to the garden to see you.  
We keep quiet 'cause we're dead if they knew  
So close your eyes... escape this town for a little while.  
Oh, oh._

_'Cause you were Romeo – I was a scarlet letter,  
And my daddy said, 'Stay away from Juliet.'  
But you were everything to me,  
I was begging you, 'Please don't go.'  
And I said..._

'_Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone.  
I'll be waiting; all that's left to do is run.  
You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess.  
It's a love story, baby, just say, Yes._

_Romeo, save me, they try to tell me how to feel.  
This love is difficult but it's real.  
Don't be afraid, we'll make it out of this mess.  
It's a love story, baby, just say, Yes.'_

_Oh, oh._

_I got tired of waiting  
Wondering if you were ever coming around.  
My faith in you was fading  
When I met you on the outskirts of town.  
And I said..._

'_Romeo, save me, I've been feeling so alone.  
I keep waiting for you but you never come.  
Is this in my head? I don't know what to think.'  
He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring and said..._

'_Marry me, Juliet, you'll never have to be alone.  
I love you, and that's all I really know.  
I talked to your dad – go pick out a white dress  
It's a love story, baby, just say, Yes'_

_Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh._

_'Cause we were both young when I first saw you..."_

As soon as she finishes, the class erupt in applause and whoops. Even Mrs. Blackthorn is smiling. Clary rolls her eyes at the applause and sits back down where she was before. So I guess this is my turn. Great, this is going to be fan-freaking-tastic! Sarcasm.

I make my way to the piano and take a seat on the stool. I scan the room before my eyes land on Clary. She gives me a fake encouraging smile, mocking me for what I did earlier. Like her, I then roll my eyes. We both smile and I can't help but feel glad that I was the one to make her smile. A genuine smile as well.

"Love is forever." Is what I tell them the name of the song is. Our teacher motions for me to start and I do that.

"I was searching  
You were on a mission  
Then our hearts combined like  
A neutron star collision

I have nothing left to lose  
You took your time to choose  
Then we told each other  
With no trace of fear that...

Our love would be forever  
And if we die  
We die together  
And lie, I said never  
'Cause our love would be forever

The world is broken  
Halos fail to glisten  
You try to make a difference  
But no one wants to listen

Hail, The preachers, fake and proud  
Their doctrines will be cloud  
Then they'll dissipate  
Like snowflakes in an ocean

Love is forever  
And we'll die, we'll die together  
And lie, I say never  
'Cause our love could be forever

Now I've got nothing left to lose  
You take your time to choose  
I can tell you now without a trace of fear

That my love will be forever  
And we'll die we'll die together  
Lie, I will never  
'Cause our love will be forever."

Clary slowly joins me beside the piano for our next song. I can't help but find this song apply to us, or more for my feelings towards Clary. She sits beside me and I smile at her, but instead of rolling her eyes or something like that she smiles back.

"Destiny." Clary and I say in unison. She laughs her melodic laugh and then we both start playing the piano, with Clary playing the on the higher end.

"_What if I never knew  
What if I never found you  
I'd never have this feeling in my heart_  
How did this come to be  
I don't know how you found me  
But from the moment I saw you  
Deep inside my heart I knew

**Baby you're my destiny  
You and I were meant to be**  
With all my heart and soul  
_I give my love to have and hold  
_**And as far as I can see  
You were always meant to be  
My destiny**

I wanted someone like you  
Someone that I could hold on to  
And give my love until the end of time  
_But forever was just a word  
Something I'd only heard about  
But now you're always there for me  
When you say forever I believe_

**Baby you're my destiny  
You and I were meant to be**  
With all my heart and soul  
_I give my love to have and hold_  
**And as far as I can see  
You were always meant to be  
My destiny**

Maybe all we need  
Is just a little faith  
'Cause baby I believe  
That love will find the way  
Hey yeah

Baby you're my destiny  
You and I were meant to be  
With all my heart and soul  
_I give my love to have and hold_  
**And as I far as I can see**  
_From now until eternity  
_You were always meant to be  
_My destiny  
_You're my destiny

**Yeahhhhh."**

When we finish our song, Clary turns towards me and smiles. She then does something very un-Clary like, she leans in and hugs me. Her grip on me is tight like if she lets go then she might just slip away. When I finally manage to pry her arms off me, the class is still cheering. Clary and I take our seats and turn out attention back to the teacher.

"Well done, that really was amazing you two. You did extraordinarily well, you work beautifully together and I am proud of you." Mrs. Blackthorn praises us, I nod in appreciation but Clary just does the usual – rolls her eyes.

As the last pair to perform sit back down, the bell rings. Clary and I gather our belongings and head to gym together. Then I have an idea. "Hey, Clary do you want to go to dinner tonight?" She raises her eyebrows. "Not like that. Like a celebratory dinner for doing well in music," I clarify but she still looks sceptical. "Okay, like this then two _friends _who don't have dates for today and don't have anything better to do going to dinner because they're hungry."

"Wait," Clary says, suddenly serious. "Are you telling me that THE Jace Lightwood does not have a date for Valentine's Day?" She gasps. "I am shocked." I glare at her and she smiles innocently back. "But yeah, sure sounds good. I really don't want to see Jon tonight."

"Okay, as much as I don't want to, can I grab a ride?" I ask, still horrified by the last time I went on the death contraption that she calls a motorcycle. Yeah, I'm not a fan of bikes anymore.

Clary smirks at me. "You sure you want to go on my bike after last time?" Clary raises her eyebrows. I nod. "Okay then, I'll be nice this time. I'll try not to go over the speed limit." She starts to head into the girl's changing rooms but then shouts back. "BUT NO PROMISES!" I roll my eyes and get ready for gym.

"You ready?" Clary asks, leaning against her bike.

"Yup," I respond. "So what is it called today?" I ask, indicating to her bike.

"Chris."

"Girl or boy?" I ask as it can be either.

"Hermaphrodite." She replies. We both burst out laughing. She hands me a helmet and I strap it on. "Just shout in my ear the directions as we go." We both climb onto the bike and zoom off to Taki's.

This time on the motorcycle wasn't as bad as last time. Surprisingly, Clary actually did stay to the speed limit. As we arrive, she looks at me with her eyebrows raised. Taki's doesn't look like much but believe me, it has the best food in the whole of New York. Actually, scrap that, it has the best food in the whole of the USA. Yes, it's just _that_ amazing.

I lead her inside and the waitress – Emily, I think her name is – gave us a small booth in the corner of the restaurant. She hands us the menus and then leaves to see to her other customers.

"I love this place already," Clary states. "The people here are crazier than me! One guy had vampire teeth and this girl had a pointed ear like she was a faerie." Clary grins.

"Fairy?" I ask.

"No, dimwit. Faerie, there's a difference." She tells me like its general knowledge. But of course to Clary, it is. "Anyways, what's good here?"

"The spaghetti fra diavolo is a-ma-zing! The chicken parmigiana is also good." I inform her. A few minutes later the waitress comes over to take our orders, I order a coke and spaghetti fra diavolo.

"I'll have what he's having and a chicken parmigiana." The waitress gave Clary a weird look but wrote it nonetheless.

"Hungry?" I ask.

"More like stressed," She says. "And yes, I'm hungry."

"How can a little thing like you, no offence," She rolls her eyes. "Eat that much and stay that slim?"

"There's this thing called exercise, dumbass." She retorts. We banter like this for about half an hour until the waitress, Emily, delivers us our food. We both murmur our thank-you's and then dig in. After the first bite, Clary makes a noise of delight.

"I think," Clary muses. "That I just had my first mouthgasm."

"You haven't had one before?" She shakes her head. "I've had many a mouthgasm." I say, winking. She scoffs and rolls her eyes again. Clary finishes both her dishes in the same time it takes to eat my one plate. Normally, this would be weird or something but for an insane reason, to me it just makes Clary that little bit more amazing. After our plates have been taken away, we just talk. We talk for hours and hours and I think I have gathered up enough courage to tell her. It is, after all Valentine's Day so maybe, just maybe, tonight will turn out to be the best night of my life. It could either be one of the best or worst. It all depends on Clary.

"Hey!" Clary says, her hands waving in front of my face. "Were you even listening?"

"Yes," I defend myself. "You were talking about Jon in a leotard."

"That was ages ago but sure."

"Clary," I lock eyes with her, stunning green meeting my own gold ones. "Listen to this and listen carefully. Ever since the day I saw you, I knew you were unique and I am so happy that you're here with me right now." I take a deep breath. "Clary, I love you."

CLARY POV:  
_I love you. _Three words. Three words that have so much power when put together. Three words that ultimately have the power to make someone or to break them. He must be joking. It's Jace, of course he's kidding. I laugh realising how stupid I must have looked. But then I realise that Jace wasn't laughing as well. When I looked up at him all I could see was pain.

_No. No no no no no no no. NO! Crap. Crap. Crap. CRAP! SHIT! This is not happening! Deep breaths, Clary, deep breaths._

"Jace…" I breathe out.

"I won't deny it anymore, Clary. I am utterly in love with you. You are the most spectacular person that I have ever met and I love you. I. Love. You."

Move. I tell myself. Do something. But I can't. I feel frozen. Why did he have to say that? Without thinking, I stand up and start walking to the exit. As soon as I get out, the cold February weather hits me. I sigh and just keep walking briskly. I'm vaguely aware of someone shouting my name but I don't turn around. I just walk and walk. After a while, I see a flash of lightening in the distance. I count how long it is until I hear the thunder. Seven seconds. Divide that by five. It was 1.4 miles away. Great. Like it does in all the cliché movies, it then started raining in sheets. I didn't start running or grabbing an umbrella like everyone else, no, I just walked on.

I can feel my phone vibrating through my jacket pocket. Sighing, I take it out to see who is calling – an unknown caller. I shrug and press accept call.

"Hello?" I ask, my voice slightly strained.

"Happy Valentine's Day." My blood runs cold at hearing that voice. I stop walking. I stop breathing. I stop _everything_. "Daddy's back."


	15. Found you!

_**DAMAGED GOODS – CHAPTER 15 – Found you!**_

_**JACE POV:  
**_Missing. Clary is missing. She's been gone for five days. It's my fault; if only I could have kept my mouth shut for five minutes then she wouldn't have run off. I suppose she isn't exactly missing, more like absent. After she ran out of Taki's I couldn't find her. I had called up everyone and we all searched for Clary throughout the night but with no success. When we finally admitted defeat and went back to Taki's, we found that Clary's bike wasn't there so we assumed that she had gone back home or something. But no, she hadn't gone home. She is just… gone. Leaving no trace, the police wouldn't help because they said it wasn't as if she was kidnapped. We tracked her phone to a little coffee shop, Java Jones but when we went there to find her, all we found was Clary's phone at the counter with a message saying: 'Stop looking.' Of course, nobody paid any attention to the message Clary left on the phone.

Jon and Jocelyn are distraught. Clary's brother is convinced that it is his fault that his sister is gone, I tried to tell him that it was me – not him. Even when I told him what happened at Taki's, he still insisted that it was his fault. Everybody is worried sick, wondering where our beloved little redhead could be. So far there has been no way to find her. She's untraceable.

Currently, we're all in the Garroway's lounge discussing over possible options that we have at the moment.

"Of course she shouldn't have run off," Luke says. "But it is obvious that Clary wants to be alone. She needs some time to think. And as much as you hate to admit it, Jocelyn, you know I'm right." Luke says, looking his wife in the eyes. He always has been the reasonable person, always calm in stressful situations like the one we're currently in.

"She may want to be alone but Clary is my daughter and I have a right to be worried about her when she is MISSING!" Jocelyn snaps irritably.

Luke sighs. "Of course you do, honey," He says softly. "But if we maybe just wait a few days then she'll probably come back. It's not like this hasn't happened before." Clary has ran off before? To be honest it doesn't surprise me. Clary doesn't strike me as the kind of person who does well with confrontation even though she has an extremely fiery personality.

"She may have done this before," Jon reason. "However, this time is different." At everyone's questioning expressions he continues. "She has been acting weirdly recently. When we were talking before, she said..." He takes a breath. "She basically said that she was going to make the most of life whilst she was still here. Clary even said that she didn't think she would be here much longer." Jon looks up to see his parents' horrified faces.

"She was talking about a storm," Izzy recalls. "Clary said something like 'the storm is here' or some crap like that."

"Yeah," Alec agrees. "It was weird. She was being all mysterious and weird."

"Yes little biscuit was acting quite peculiarly." Magnus adds. Alec and Magnus share a smile. God, they're obnoxious.

"Does anyone know where she could have gone? Somewhere that Clary always goes." Simon asks, you can just see the little mechanisms in his brain whirring, trying to figure something out. Everyone shakes their head. Clary doesn't exactly share much personal information with anybody. We once went to a little clearing in central park. It was just Clary and I; there was no one else around. Maybe she might have been there. It's a start.

"Clary and I went to this little space somewhere in central park." I suggest.

"She might have been there at some point but there would be no way to tell." Luke says, sighing in defeat.

We all stay there in the lounge for a few hours talking about where Clary could be with no success. Magnus and Alec leave but everyone else stays. Jocelyn offers for Izzy, Simon and I to stay the night and we graciously accept. Soon after that, Izzy and Simon upstairs to get some sleep so it's just Jon, Jocelyn, Luke and me in the lounge. We sit in silence for a while, all thinking of where that little redhead could be.

I know that I should be worried about where she is, but I'm not. It's not like she can't keep herself safe. I'm just worried that she won't come back. In the little time that I've known her, I've come to love Clary. I couldn't imagine a life without our little redhead now. There is an undeniable brightness to Clary. How that even when she wearing the darkest clothes and in the most awful mood, she always seems to brighten up my mood. How her smile, just her smile, can lighten up a room. Clary might be the worst behaved student ever known to the Earth but she is amazing. Clary is spectacular at every single thing that she does yet she always downgrades herself, thinking that she is nothing amazing. But she is definitely something special and so unique. I've never met another soul like Clary and that is another thing that is amazing about her – she doesn't pretend to be someone else. She's just Clary. Beautiful, amazing, funny, blunt, strong, stubborn, intelligent, flawless Clary. Did I mention that she is beautiful? Absolutely beautiful. Stunning. Completely stu-

I'm brought out of my thoughts by the shrill ringing of a phone. Wait, the shrill ringing of _my_ phone. Sighing, I pull my mobile out from my pocket and check who it is. I glance at the screen – unknown caller. Shrugging I press 'accept call'.

"Hello." I say, my voice sounding very tired.

"Hey," says a soft voice on the other end. I sit up immediately, recognising the unmistakeable voice. "Jace?" She asks.

"Clary?" I ask. Jocelyn, Luke and Jon all turn towards me and Jon does a weird hand gesture thing which I guess means something like speaker. I roll my eyes at him and put the phone on speaker anyway so they can all here.

"Yup, that's me. Well done, Jace." Clary says sarcastically. I can't help but smile at this, knowing that she's okay and able to use sarcasm. I don't think there has ever been a day without a sarcastic comment from Clary. Then again, I am as sarcastic as her.

I cut to the chase and say, "Where the hell have you been?"

"Nice to talk to you too," I can just picture her rolling her eyes right now. "And you don't need to know where I've been. But just to keep you happy," She sighs audibly. "I'm in the city. I haven't left. Mum?" There's a silence. None of us say anything and pretend like the call isn't on speaker because that will probably piss Clary off. "I know you put the phone on speaker. I'm not dumb. Mum, I just wanted to say that I'm fine but I won't come back home. I can't." Her voice breaks and Clary tries to cover it up with a cough.

"What do you mean you _can't,_ Clare?" Jocelyn asks her daughter quietly, I'm surprised that Clary actually heard her.

"I just can't. It's nobody's fault. But there's no way I'm getting any of you in to this." Clary says, trying to sound strong but completely failing. In to what? Is what I'm thinking. Jon is the one to answer.

"Clary, what do you mean? In to what?" His voice is rough like he has been crying. I wouldn't be surprised if he has.

"You don't understand," Clary sighs.

"Then tell us!" Jon snaps angrily.

"I can't, Jon. You don't know how much I want to. But I just can't," It sounds like she's on the verge of tears. Jon opens his mouth to speak again but stops at the sharp look his mother gives him. "Look this is why I called. Don't try to look for me, I don't want to be found. Just forget about me. I can't let any of you get hurt so you have to stay as far away from me as possible."

"Cla-"I try.

She cuts me off. "Don't. Goodbye." And with that she ends the call. I don't have a clue what is going on and from the three other blank faces in the room, neither do they. Jon is just staring at the floor as if it is the answer to all his problems. Jocelyn is trying not to cry, her eyes are gleaming with unshed tears. Luke is attempting to comfort his wife. I'm just staring at the phone, mentally willing for Clary to call back again. We all sit in somewhat of a stunned silence for a while before Jocelyn and Luke stand up.

"You two get some sleep," Luke tells us. "We'll talk tomorrow." They then disappear up the stairs. Jon continues to look down at the floor for a while. The only sound in the room is the quiet ticking of the old clock hanging on the wall.

"I just don't understand, Jace." Jon admits.

"Me neither." I say.

"We're not going to listen to her, are we?" He asks. I don't answer as I know that Jon has more to say. "We will still look for her even if she doesn't want us to. I don't give a crap about whether she wants us to or not. Clary is sixteen years old and she is alone in one of the most dangerous cities," He finally looks up and just sighs. "God, this sounds a lot like Home Alone 2." I chuckle a bit and even Jon cracks a smile.

"Jon, if anyone even touches her I'm pretty sure that they will end up worse off than her. Like, a _lot_ worse." Jon nods, still smiling slightly.

Jon laughs a bit before speaking. "If someone as much as looked at her the wrong way, Clary would probably castrate them." Both of us shudder at the thought. "It's not a great idea to get on the wrong side of Clarissa Fairchild unless you want to be relieved of your dignity."

"Agreed." I say.

A few minutes later we decide to get some sleep. I find the guest bedroom I usually stay in – the one that is furthest away from everybody else's and change into a pair of pyjama bottoms.

I lay in bed for a while, contemplating different reasons for Clary's disappearance. She said that it wasn't anyone's fault. But Clary probably only told us this so no one would feel guilty. However, Clary was being very cryptic and was hinting that there was another factor as to why she isn't here. It may have just been everything that had happened. Her argument with Jon. Our dinner when I confessed that I… loved her. There's hundreds of things.

It still hurts that Clary doesn't reciprocate my feelings. But she never actually said that she didn't feel the same way about me. She ran out before I could actually ask her. I guess that I still have a flicker of hope that Clary loves me. Even Jon said that he thought that she did. She opened up to me more than she has ever before. There is still hope. No matter what, we always have hope. Hope is continuous; it has no end. As long as we have hope, we can have dreams. Our dreams are what make us strive to succeed. And as a race we all succeed. I hope – dream – that Clary will say that she loves me. And even if she never does, I always would have had hope. Clary is worth it.

After a while of just lying there in bed, I drift into a fitful sleep in which I do not gain any rest.

After having a shower, I change into my usual attire – jeans and a plain top – and head downstairs. As soon as I reach the ground floor I am met with the smell of pancakes, I follow the sweet smell into the kitchen where everybody but Jon is sitting at the breakfast bar eating pancakes and waffles. I take a seat next to Izzy who is piling more pancakes on to her plate.

"You are absolutely amazing, Jocelyn." I compliment her. She smiles gratefully.

We have a normal breakfast, chattering about nonsense and bickering as usual. I stay quiet for most of it, just watching the three couples. You'd expect Jocelyn and Luke to act differently from Magnus and Alec or Izzy and Simon, but they don't. They act exactly the same, teasing and messing about. You can see how in love they all are. Okay, I need to stop watching Izzy's chick flicks. They seem to have influenced me too much. The peaceful occasion is shattered when we all hear the thundering footsteps of what sounds like King Kong descending the stairs. When the pounding on the stairs stops, King Kong starts to shout.

"DO I SMELL PANCAKES? IF YOU PIGS HAVE ATE ALL OF THEM THEN I HOPE THEY GIVE YOU FOOD POISONING!"

We all laugh and Jon comes running extremely fast into the kitchen. He skids into the room and loses control on the laminate floor, ultimately, Jon ends up flat on his ass because he was wearing socks and running on a very slippery surface. I would say I feel sorry for him, but that would be lying as I don't. In fact it was very amusing. Slowly, Jon gets up from the floor and complains about his 'sore ass'. We can't help but all start laughing again. Grumbling something under his breath, Jon sits next to his mother.

"Gee mum, thanks for sticking up for me and not laughing like the rest of these morons." Jon says sarcastically. Jocelyn bites her lip to stop her from laughing anymore.

"I'm sorry," She says, totally not sorry. "Are you okay? Did you hurt your bottom?" Jocelyn asks as if she was speaking to a five year old.

"My ass bums fine," He says. "Ha-ha, I have a fine ass." He says, grinning like an idiot. There is a collective rolling of eyes around the table and a few scoffs as well. Jon then sticks his tongue out at everyone. He then looks around and frowns. "You left me no food." He states sadly, looking like a kicked puppy. Jocelyn rolls her eyes at his son and grabs a plate of pancakes from the kitchen counter. She puts it in front of Jon who is now grinning like a maniac. He stands up and wraps his mum in a bear hug. "You're the best mummy in all of the world!" Jon shouts, earning a big kiss from Jocelyn. He scowls and continues to eat silently. Well not really silently as you can hear him chewing and muttering under his breath about how he would 'marry these pancakes just so he could be with them for the rest of his life'.

"I thought of something last night," Simon says, we all look at him, telling him to go on. "And I was thinking that Clary loves her bike so much."

"Well done, Lewis." I praise sarcastically.

He rolls his eyes. "And it's like her prized possession."

"Yeah," I agree. "Wherever Clary is, you'll also find the gender changing bike."

"Gender changing?" Questions Luke.

"Yup, sometimes it's a girl, sometimes a boy. Last time I saw it, it was a hermaphrodite." I inform them with a shrug.

"My daughter really is odd." Jocelyn ponders.

Before I can make a comment, Simon speaks. "As I was saying, wouldn't Clary have some sort of tracking device on her bike in case it ever got stolen or she lost it somehow?"

Jon, who has now finished scoffing down his breakfast, stands up. "Lewis, I love you!" He then runs over to Simon and hugs him extremely tightly so that Simon is red faced and lacking oxygen.

"Hey," Iz says. "Go get your own nerd!" Jon rolls his eyes but goes and sits back down. For the whole time, Jocelyn and Luke had just been sitting back, watching amusedly.

"Clary would probably have an app on her phone or computer or something if she did have a tracker on the bike." Simon exclaims. Jon offers to get Clary's laptop and runs back up to Clary's floor to get it from her room because he knows where she keeps it. Just as I was about to say something, there is an almighty bang from upstairs which is then followed by a pained cry.

"I'M OKAY!" Jon bellows from two floors up. A few moments later, we hear him running back down the stairs and into the kitchen. He looks slightly breathless and his hair is tousled. It also looks like there is some dust in his hair which wasn't there a few minutes ago. He hands Simon the black laptop.

"Do I even want to know what that crash was?" Jocelyn asks.

"I fell over when I was trying to get the laptop out." He explains.

"You don't weigh _that_ much, do you?" Magnus inquires.

"No, Clary keeps her laptop in a ceiling tile." Jon informs.

"What the hell?" Izzy says.

"I know," Jon says. "I'm pretty sure it's because she doesn't want any authorities to find it. I remember her saying something about having a fingerprint scanner or something like that on there. She has all that CSI crap on there. It's actually pretty cool, only she knows how to work it though and it does have a password; she never told me it though."

Simon types rapidly on the keyboard and sighs. "I can't get through the password so we'll have to do it the old fashioned way. Any ideas what her password is?" He asks.

"Hmmm," Magnus thinks. "How about mysteriousredhead123, no spaces." Simon rolls his eyes.

"Try sketchingisthebest1108." Jon suggests.

"Why 1108?" Simon asks.

"Her birthday, 11th August." Jocelyn tells us.

"Okay, worth a try," Simon then types it in and makes a frustrated noise. "Nope. Four attempts left."

What could Clary put as her password? It wouldn't be something obvious, but something that is close to her and that she loves, art and music would be too obvious. Sometimes there are clues as to what the password could be in case the user forgets it. "Lewis, is there a clue?"

"Yes actually, there is," He clicks on something. "It says 'piss off whoever is trying to get in to my laptop, I'd never forget my password.' Well that's helpful."

After two more failed attempts, everyone isn't particularly enthusiastic. Then I have an idea. "Try 10j19Sguiaw." They all look at me like I'm crazy. Simon shrugs and types it in anyway. The laptop makes a noise and he looks at me incredulously.

"How did you get that?!" He asks, practically shouting. I smirk, I didn't actually think that would work, it was just a combination of her favourite things.

"Do you actually want to know?" I ask.

"YES! I want to know how you figured it out." He says.

"10 is her favourite number, 'j' is the 10th number in the alphabet. 19 is Jon's birthday, 's' is the 19th number in the alphabet. And then 'gui' for her favourite instrument – guitar. Clary prefers drawing to painting so the 'aw' is for the last half of draw." I explain.

"Turns out that he isn't as dumb as his hair." Magnus drawls, amused. I flip him off discreetly but obviously Jon notices as he sniggers.

Simon starts tapping away on the laptop, doing whatever it is that he does. But I'm not complaining because if it helps to find Clary then I'm all for it. We were probably sitting in silent anticipation for about ten minutes until Simon jumps off his chair and starts doing some weird victory dance that involves him looking like a retarded seagull. When he calms down, he turns the laptop round to show everyone an address.

"It's an address of some motel in Brooklyn." He explains. Immediately, everyone gets out of their seats.

"Hold up," I say. "At the moment we have one car with five seats and eight people. How is this going to work?"

Without a second's hesitation Jon says, "I'm going."

"Me too," I add. "We might need muscle to drag Clary out." Just to prove my point, I flex my arm muscles. They roll their eyes but agree. After a lot of arguing from Jocelyn, we decided that it would be Jon, Izzy, Alec and I going. Jocelyn argued to come as well but Luke convinced her not to, saying that Clary might just need her friends at the moment.

Simon had informed us that he needed to stay at the house where there was Wi-Fi in case the whereabouts of the bike moved so he could call us. Magnus had just said that he would never go to Brooklyn ever again. Luke, of course, decided to stay with his wife. Within five minutes we were all in the car and heading to the motel.

"Wow, this really is the most cliché runaway motel choice ever." I say as we step out of the car. The building was a four floor stucco structure with peeling mustard paint. And the sign read 'MO EL'. It was an extremely classy establishment. Not. I scanned the car park to see if Clary's bike was here but couldn't see it. I sigh, thinking that she somehow found out that we were coming.

The inside of the motel is just as bad as the outside. Sceptically, we walk up to the reception desk where an old lady is sitting there reading a magazine. Alec being the most polite of us all decided to speak.

"Excuse me, is there a Clary Fairchild staying here?"

"Ooh, no. Clary Fray has been staying here for a few nights though, nice girl she is. Very pretty, lovely red hair that she has. I'm Mary, if you were wondering." The old lady – Mary – says.

"Oh," Alec says, polite as ever. "Yes, sorry, I meant Clary Fray."

"Well I'm sorry but she just left. Told me she was going for a quick run. But you're welcome to stay here and wait for her, you seem like a nice bunch of people. Not like most teenagers today, swearing and smoking. What has the world come to? Anyways, take a seat over there." She gestures to the 'lounge' area which is just a few chairs and a dead plant. We sit down there anyway whilst the old woman continues muttering to herself.

"Clary Fray?" Izzy asks.

"Clary is a very uncommon name, I just guessed that it was her." Alec says quietly. We all nod in agreement. Not five minutes later, the front doors open and Clary walks in, wearing only a black sports bra and leggings. We stay sitting down and watch her. She looks extremely scared. From here I can tell that she is trembling, but I don't think it is from the cold. Shakily, she makes her way up the stairs. We follow her up to her room where she locks the door. Jon hesitates for a second but then knocks on her door. It's silent for a moment. Then the bolt clicks.

"Who is it?" Clary shouts.

"Cleaning." Iz shouts back. I give my sister a WTF look and she just shrugs.

"Come in." Clary says. Slowly Jon opens the door revealing a normal motel room with a single bed and small en-suite, however Clary is nowhere to be seen. Before I can say something, Jon is pushed up against the wall with a knife to his throat. I stand frozen in shock. What is Clary doing? Does she know that she has a knife to her brother's throat?!

"Clary…" I say but she doesn't seem to hear me.

"Stay away from me." Clary growls. "You can't do anything to me anymore." She says, her voice wavering slightly. What does she mean by that?

"Clary…" I say slowly. Her head snaps around to me. Her brows furrow in confusion. "Clary, give me the knife." I instruct her. She slowly looks up to Jon and then stumbles backwards.

"I-I… I-I'm… it's…" She stumbles around for words. Clary then takes a deep breath to compose herself. "You need to go." Jon laughs humourlessly.

"No we don't, Clare. We _all_ need to go. As in including _you_." He says.

"GOD DAMN IT, JON! I CAN'T! IF I DO THEN HE'LL COME FOR YOU AS WELL! I WON'T LET HIM! YOU ALL MEAN TOO MUCH TO ME!" Clary screams. She slides down the wall into a crumpled heap on the wall. I look at Clary properly now; she looks dishevelled and… distraught. Clary seems so defenceless in this moments, I've never seen her like this – without her walks. We are all taken aback by her outburst but Alec is the first to recover.

"Clary," Alec says softly. "What do you mean?"

"He's back." She whispers so quietly that I'm surprised that I heard her. Both Jon and I kneel down in front of her. Jon strokes her hair in an attempt to get Clary to calm down.

"Clary you don't mean…" Jon trails off obviously knowing that his sister will understand the message he is trying to convey. Clary can only nod. "That's not possible. He's six feet in the ground." Jon says, his voice wavering slightly. I'm still trying to understand who they're talking about. Six feet in the ground… their father. They mean their father – Valentine. Clary thinks he's alive. That is impossible, I saw his grave.

"He's alive, Jon," She whispers. "He called me. Hell, I _saw_ him!" Her voice raising to a shout.

"Clary…" Jon sighs. "I think you need to calm down. He is dead. He is not coming back. You're just imagining things, hallucinating. You're safe." Clary shakes her head.

"I know what I saw." She states, her voice unusually strong and forceful.

"Clary…" Jon sighs again and rakes a hand through his ivory hair. Clary pushes Jon away slightly and stands up.

"Do not 'Clary' me, Jonathan Christopher," she chastises him and turns around to face. "You all need to stay as far away from me as you can. He's here and he'll do anything. So get out," Izzy walks towards Clary so that they're face to face but doesn't say anything. Clary continues what she was saying. "Just leave me alone." She finishes.

"He's dead, Clare. You need to realise that he is gone. Dead. Whatever you think you saw, you didn't. Okay?" Jon assures her. "We're not ever going to leave you."

"Maybe I did imagine it… It's just… I-I…" She takes a breath, composing herself. "Just leave me alone and never come back." She finishes sounding defeated.

Before I can say anything, Izzy's hand is flying across Clary's face. Hard. Clary doesn't stumble but just stands there stunned for a second. Iz and Clary then lock eyes and Clary growls. Literally growls. "Snap out of it, Clary!" Izzy snaps. "I just found my best friend and she's telling me to go away. SNAP OUT OF IT NOW! You are coming home with us and there is no way you are getting out of this." Izzy straightens her back trying to stand taller in an attempt to look intimidating. Like that'll do a lot, it's Clary we're talking about here.

"But-" Clary tries to talk her way out of it in vain but my sister cuts her off before she can even say one coherent sentence.

"NO arguments!" Clary sighs.

"Fine." Clary agrees. We all say still for a second, shocked that the redhead gave up so easily. "I'll come back. But how are you going to stop me from leaving again when you're all asleep?" Clary smirks victoriously.

"We can't," Alec says. "Unless you want us to handcuff you to a radiator." Did my non-violent peaceful brother just threaten the most menacing person known to mankind? Well done, bro! I'm proud of him. Although it probably wasn't the greatest idea because it will probably come back to bite him on his ass as I'm sure Clary is already planning ways to get back on him.

"A radiator?" Clary questions, picking her nails as if she was bored. "If you wanted to keep me from leaving then a radiator is no good; I can get out of them in less than a minute. You are going to have to think of a better one than that."

Izzy smirks like a maniac. "Chloroform." She states, grinning proudly.

Clary tries not to look phased by this but she's biting her lip – something that I've noticed she does when she's nervous or thinking deeply about something. "I'm not going home yet but I'll come with you," She finally submits. Where's the but? There is always a but. "But," There it is. "I'm hungry." As if on cue, her stomach rumbles.

I chuckle. "Of course you are," I speak for the first time, thoroughly amused. "When aren't you hungry?" I enquire with a smirk.

"I will stop eating the day that Jace Lightwood gives up sarcasm." She retorts, smirking as well.

"Sorry, Red but that will not be happening anytime soon." I say.

"Really? I thought you might stop being sarcastic and use your 'skills'," She places finger quotes around the last word. "In other areas. Like, I don't know… you could work at McDonalds!" She says feigning excitement.

"Nah," I respond with an uninterested wave of the hand. "I'm too sexy to work there."

"Debatable." Clary says with a shrug.

"Do you want to take that back, Red?" I ask, grinning like a mad man. Clary laughs before replying.

"Goldilocks, whatever you could do to me, I could do ten times worse." And then she finishes with a very Clary-like smug smirk.

"I don't doubt that," I say slowly. "You know you're a bit of a psychopath." Clary just grins. I roll my eyes. "Taki's?" I ask no one in particular.

"Taki's." They all agree in unison. I laugh and we make our way to the car.


	16. Imagining

_**DAMAGED GOODS – CHAPTER 16 – Imagining**_

_**JON POV: **_  
The ride to Taki's is spent in an awkward silence with Izzy examining her nails as if they were the most interesting think known to man, Jace constantly checking his stupid hair in the mirror from the backseat, Alec whistling annoyingly whilst keeping his hands firm on the wheel and Clary and I were having an intense staring, or should I say glaring, contest. After about twenty minutes of me and Clary wordlessly arguing, she decides to break the thick silence in the car.

"What's your problem?!" She demands, still glaring directly at me.

"What do you mean?" I ask innocently with a sweet smile.

"You know what I mean. We've been glaring at each other for this entire car journey, what is your problem with me?" She asks again, her voice deadly calm.

Avoiding the subject I say, "I'm very impressed that you could stare at me for that long, Clare. You haven't blinked once. Remind me to never have a staring contest with you because you will always win." I add a short, obviously fake, laugh at the end to try and convince her.

"Jonathan Christopher, what is up?" She asks more softly now.

I sigh. "The sky," I respond dryly. She narrows her eyes at me. "Fine." I relent. "What's up is this: I just found my little sister who run off and she willingly, without too much arguments, has decided to come back with us. This is completely out of character for her and I am thinking that this is too easy. So, what is your plan?" I ask, looking into her eyes to see if I find any guilt. But I don't see anything in her eyes like I normally do, not even hatred. Clary just looks void of any kind of emotion.

"Can't I just want to go home?" She comments sounding extremely hurt. I immediately feel guilty for insinuating that she was lying to us and was just going to run off again. She must see how I'm feeling because she presses a kiss to my cheek showing that she doesn't care.

After that the car lapses into silence again. However this time it's more of a comfortable silence and there isn't as much tension. Soon after that we pull up next to Taki's and all head in. Instinctively, we all head over to our usual circular booth in the back corner with Clary following behind us. When the waitress comes over, we all give her our orders and she flounces off back into the kitchen to give them to the chef – the best chef in New York, might I add. I can see Clary getting slightly agitated and anxious at the lack of talk as she starts drumming her nails on the table and avoiding all eye contact from the four of us. Finally, she snaps.

"Just freaking talk!" She sneers. "Go on, I'm sure you're all dying to know why I was staying in some crappy hotel-"

"Motel." Jace corrects whilst smirking.

Clary rolls her eyes and flips him off, which just causes his smirk to grow. "So who's going to go first?" Clary asks obviously irritated.

Izzy being highly curious asks the devil – I mean my beautiful caring sister, Clary – the first of many questions to come. "Who were you and Jon talking about in the hotel?" At Jace's disapproving look, she adds, "Motel." And then proceeds to roll her eyes at her brother's need to be precise at a situation like this. Clary visibly stiffens at this question and her lips are pressed into a straight line as if she is restraining herself from lashing out at Iz. Jace and Alec see Clary's tense stature; Izzy however doesn't notice and continues to stare intently at my sister.

"No one." Clary says, her voice monotone and without any kind of emotion, just… dead. Like she doesn't see a point in life anymore; as if she has given up hope.

In the motel room when Clary had said that she thought Valentine was alive, I felt frozen. Truthfully, I was scared. Not for myself but for Clary. I feared that if he had somehow come back from the dead that Clary would retreat completely into herself and become a shell of the person that she could one day become. Various scenarios were playing in my head and for a moment I couldn't help but just stay still, like a statue. Once I had finally regained my senses, I realised that whatever Clary thought she saw must have been her mind playing tricks on her. Even when you have one of the sharpest minds like Clary's, you can easily be deceived by your own wild imagination. I convinced Clary that she was imagining what she saw because she must have been. It is against the laws of nature for someone to be bought from the land of the dead back into the land of the living again. Unless you're watching Pirates of the Caribbean, that is the one and only exception.

After Izzy's question, it was Alec's turn. He was being surprising forward today and very un-Alec like. "Why did you run away in the first place?" He takes a sit of his coke without his eyes leaving Clary's.

Personally, I think there are many factors to Clary's brief disappearance. Partly, it was my fault for the argument Clary and I had on Valentine's Day. But it was also kind of Jace's fault, (not trying to blame someone else here, just voicing my thoughts) because of what he said to her in here – Taki's. Jace confessed his undying love for her. To anybody who saw them when they were together, it would be obvious that Jace was in love with Clary. But Clary was completely oblivious to the fact. But I still don't see why these pushed her to leave, there must have been something else. Normally, Clary would just suck it up and get on with life, ignoring everyone and everything that got in her way. This time she didn't. She fled. When it comes to confrontation, there is only two choices in Clary's head – fight or flight. No matter what, Clary always chose fight. There must be something terribly wrong if she chose flight. I decide that I'll talk to her when she's alone, I doubt that Clary would be willing to tell me with Alec, Jace and Izzy here.

"Next question." Clary says, completely ignoring Alec's question. Alec opens his mouth to say something but Jace beats him to it.

"Why did you leave when I told you that I love you?" Jace asks bluntly, his eyes gleaming dangerously. All of us just sit there shocked. Even Clary who always tries to look unaffected by everything is stuck to her seat, staring wide eyed at the blonde who is now looking slightly embarrassed at what he just blurted out without comprehending what he was saying. I find it interesting how Jace said 'love' not 'loved' as in present tense.

Alec and Izzy are sharing worried looks. I just stare at Clary hoping that she'll speak within the next minute otherwise this is going to get _very_ uncomfortable.

"I-I…" Clary stumbles around for words. "I think I'm going to go get some air." She says standing up and grabbing her phone. Jace attempts to get up as well but Clary sends him a harsh look and he lowers himself back into the bench. "I need to be alone whilst getting air. Don't worry, I'm coming back," She slides out of the booth and grins. "Probably." She adds mischievously.

"Clary." I warn. She rolls her eyes.

"Relax, bro," Clary jokes. "I'll be back." She says, trying to imitate Arnold Schwarzenegger from Terminator. Without another glance at us, Clary walks out of Taki's and turns left. I know I should probably go after her but I'm sure that she'll stay around. If Clary is anything then she is a man of her word. Well, _woman_ of her word. I can count on her to always tell me the truth. When I look away from Clary and turn my attention back to the three siblings, all they're doing is gawking at a very mortified looking Jace.

"YOU LOVE CLARY?!" Izzy whisper shouts to Jace as if Clary would be able to hear through walls. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if she could.

Jace nods. "On Valentine's Day." He says quietly.

Izzy's head snaps towards me. "DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS?" She whispers angrily. I just nod. Then Iz starts grinning like a shopping obsessed murdering psychopath. "Ohmygod!" She gushes. "You two would have such cute babies. They'd have Jace's hair and Clary eyes! They would be sooooo cute. You have to get together and have adorable little baby Fairchilds'!"

"Why would they be baby Fairchilds' not Lightwoods'?" Jace asked. Is that really the only thing that he got from that?! Not the fact that his sister just said about him having children. If anyone had merely suggested that to Jace a few months ago, he would have flipped. Maybe he is much more serious about Clary then I ever thought.

"They would be baby Fairchilds' because Clary would be the man of the house," Izzy explained. "You're a fangirl compared to Clary, Jace." Jace rolls his eyes but doesn't even try to disagree like he usually would. Wow. THE Jace Lightwood, heartbreaker, man-whore, absolute dick at times is in love. He has changed his way, for the better. Actually, a correction – Clary has changed him. Even if she didn't mean to or she hasn't noticed, Clary has changed Jace. I just hope that Jace can change Clary back into what she was.

"So, how about we don't talk about how your sister might need a mental evaluation," Izzy says jokingly. "And instead we eat food and pretend this is a perfectly normal day. How does that sound?"

"That sounds freaking perfect!" I say, thankful that we can just try to be normal for now at least. We talk for a little while just about stuff like we all usually would but it's not as light a conversation like normal. It's a tense atmosphere and we all have something to say but won't dare to say it. When things get a bit too uncomfortable for Izzy, she finds an escape for a few minutes.

"I'm going to go to the ladies' room and then I think I'll go talk to Clary." She excuses herself and heads off into the direction of the toilets. Whilst Izzy is gone, our food arrive. We did _think_ about waiting for the girls to come back so we could all eat together but then we realised that they wouldn't want us waiting _just_ for them so we started eating. Also, being three teenage boys, we were starving! Jace, Alec and I scoffed down our food in no time and then decided to start eating Clary and Izzy's food. I am kind of thinking that Clary might kick my ass for stealing her food. Meh, worth it.

A short time later, the bell chimes indicating that someone is coming into the diner. I look up to see an Izzy looking at me with a slightly confused expression. She slides into the booth with her brows furrowed.

"How's Clary?" I ask.

"Don't be an idiot, Jon," She rolls her eyes. I raise an eyebrow at her. "You were just out there, you two were talking. I saw you, dumbass." She punches me lightly.

"Iz," I say worriedly. "I wasn't just out there." What if Clary wasn't seeing things? What if…? NO! Stop being stupid, Jonathan. I scold myself. Izzy rolls her eyes and she turns to face me as if she was going to say something but then her mouth snapped shut.

"Well if you weren't out there then who the hell was your sister talking to because whoever that guy was, he looked a hell of a lot like you?" Izzy then raised an eyebrow.

"Stop being so melodramatic, Iz," Alec sighs. "Jon was here and he ate your food." I glare at Alec who either doesn't seem to notice of just ignores it.

"I don't care about my food right now," She snaps. "I want to know why my best friend is outside with a complete stranger!"

At this point I really just wanted to go and make sure that my little sister was alright. However I know that she just wants her space so if I go out there then she'll probably yell and get pissed at me. Noticing my inner battle, Jace says, "We'll all just go out and see if she is okay because then she can scream at all of us."

"Nah, Clary will just probably shout at you, Jace," Alec says. "You can be quite infuriating at times." He states it matter of factly. I place a wad of bills on the table and grab my stuff before heading outside to the left and into an alley way where I am guessing Clary is. Jace comes to stand next to me as we both scan around for Clary.

"Where is she?" Jace asks quietly. I shrug. That's when we hear it. A scream. A loud piercing girl's scream. Clary's scream. Jace and I exchanged an extremely worries glance and then run down the alleyway with Alec and Iz following a few feet behind us. As we run through the narrow alley, the noises get louder but she is still nowhere to be seen. "ROOF!" Jace shouts pointing to a fire escape that is attached to a small two floor red brick building. We all race up the stairs with Jace leading and come up onto the gravel roof.

The scene playing before one is something that I wished I would never have to see in my life. Clary is here; so is someone else. Turns out that my sister was not hallucinating at all. Because standing before me is Valentine Morgenstern. Alive. With a beating heart and blood running through his veins. Unless he is a zombie which I highly doubt. My father is moving too fast to be a zombie. He is most definitely alive. And unfortunately for us – for the word, really – he is back.

Clary is lying on the ground, curled into herself, trying to protect her frail body from every blow that Valentine delivers. The thing that I don't understand though is that she isn't even trying to fight back, just lying there and taking it. I can't move, I'm frozen. Unable to move. Am I breathing? Can I breathe? I don't even know.

"Holy shit…" I breathe.

"HELP HER!" Izzy wails.

Valentine doesn't seem to notice us but Clary has. As she looks at us, I see no fear in her eyes, she isn't scared about what her own father is doing to her. I'd be scared if I was her. I would be petrified. But no, Clary is strong. Clarissa Fairchild is the strongest person in the world. I mouth one word to her: strength.

As soon as she understands my message, her eyes are blazing with something, fury maybe. I don't know but it doesn't matter. In that moment she jumps up, surprising Valentine and strikes his face making him stumble backwards slightly, more in surprise than actual pain I suspect. When he looks back at his daughter, his cold black eyes are glistening with hatred and rage. He brings his fist up to hit her but when it comes down she easily avoids it and instead grabs his fist and twists his arm resulting in a cry of pain from Valentine. Clary smirks evilly at him before letting him go and delivering yet another forceful punch to his gut. However, Valentine is strong. With each blow he recovers almost immediately. Valentine is good; Clary is better.

They deliver blow after blow. Clary effortlessly dodges all of his attacks and looks as if she is just getting started. Valentine, on the other hand isn't looking so good. There is blood streaming down his face, his lip's cut and his nose looks slightly crooked. Clary, except from the odd bit of blood on her looks perfectly fine. Valentines movements are gradually getting slower and more sluggish whereas Clary is still bouncing around, deflecting his hits and delivering her own. Even me, who has no idea about this, knows that Clary is going to win this. Her fighting is faultless and she hasn't even broken a sweat.

When Valentine looks away for the tenth of a second, Clary somersaults over him, landing directly behind him. The look on his face is priceless! He just looks around shocked for a second. Clary takes this to her advantage and kicks his shins exceptionally hard so that Valentine falls to his knees. Then Clary turns to face him and pushes him down so that he is lying on his back and paces her knee on his chest to keep him still. Smirking down at him victoriously, Clary elbows his face and I hear a sickening crack that must be from his nose. Valentine just smirks at Clary and leans in close to Clary. He tucks a stray strand of red hair behind Clary's ear; she tenses which just makes Valentine laugh humourlessly.

Slowly, he leans in towards Clary and whispers something to her. She pales visibly and momentarily releases the strong grip that she had on him. Valentine uses this to his advantage as he punches Clary in the stomach effectively winding her. He stands up, dusts himself off and walks towards the edge of the roof. Just as we think he's about to leave, he turns towards us and smirks.

"Hello son," Valentine says amusedly. "It is _so_ nice to see you," He turns back and throws a Clary a disgusted look. "Clarissa Adele Morgenstern, I'll see you soon my daughter." With that he steps over the edge of the building, his leather cloak flailing in the wind after him.

I don't move. I don't think I can. I can't move. I feel all the life drain out of me.

I feel a stinging sensation in my cheek and turn around to see Izzy looking at me with wide fearful eyes. "Jon," She says shakily. "We need to help Clary."

I forget everything and run to Clary who is hunched over on the ground. Beside her there is a pool of blood and I am praying to all that is holy that that is not my sister's blood.

"Hey Clare-bear," I say, my voice sounding odd even to my own ears. "Are you okay?" Did I seriously just ask her that? What kind of question is that?!

"No." Clary squeaks.

"What can I do?" I stroke her hair in an attempt to calm her down. She still won't look at me.

"Jace." Clary whispers.

"What?" I ask confused.

She sniffles. "I want Jace." Her voice cracks.

"Jace!" I call. He looks at me and I make a gesture for him to come here. As he jogs up to me I say, "She said she wanted you." I can't help but hear the hurt in my own voice. And it does hurt. It hurts knowing that after everything, Jace is the one she'll go to.

Jace nods uncertainly at me before going over to Clary. He strokes her hair as I did and draws comforting circles on her back. After a minute or two, Jace gently lifts her chin up so that they're looking each other in the eye. I can see Jace's eyes widen a fraction but he doesn't say anything. Does Clary really look that bad at the moment?

"Oh Clary…" Jace says softly. He pulls her into a hug and Clary doesn't hesitate to wrap her arms around him. One lone tear trails its way down her face and she quickly tries to rub it away before anyone saw. But I saw. Clary makes a sound between a sob and a choke.

"It hurts, Jace!" She wails, tucking her head into his shoulder.

"Where does it hurt?" Jace asks softly.

"Everywhere." Clary says in a whisper that was just loud enough for me to catch. Jace tries to pull away from Clary but she just tightens her hold on him. Jace sighs but gives in and pulls her as close to him as possible.

"Jace, why is there blood on your shirt?" Alec, who has someone how came beside me, asks. "Jace why is there a LOT of blood on your shirt?!" He asks again, sounding more panicked now.

Reluctantly, Jace pulled away from Clary and she fell to the ground, Jace caught her head just before impact. We all walked closer towards her and realised that her eyes were closed. She was out cold. Tentatively, Jace lifted Clary's tattered shirt up slightly. I was just about to ask what he was doing when I saw it. A wound on her stomach with a thick crimson red liquid flowing freely from it. Like a river of blood. I clench and unclench my fists to calm myself down but it doesn't work.

Then I punch the wall and shout at the top of my lungs:  
"THAT BASTARD STABBED HER!"


	17. Unlock the box

_**Hi, I just wanted to say that I am sorry for taking a while to update. I'm back at school now in year 9 and this year we'll be choosing our GCSEs so I won't be updating as often. Please, if you have any suggestions as to what should happen next, I would be more than happy to hear the, leave your ideas in a review or PM me. Also, please don't scream at me for writing an Author's note, I know I said I wouldn't. I'm sorry! Without further ado, here is the next chapter of Damaged Goods.  
**_

_**DAMAGED GOODS – CHAPTER 17 – Unlock the box**_

_**CLARY POV: **_  
_As my heavy eyelids slowly flutter open, I hear a distant sound as if someone was speaking to me through a pane of glass. It was just murmurs but I could make out one voice. The smooth, elegant and unmistakeable voice of Jace Lightwood. Wincing at the slight pain in my lower abdomen, I sit up. At first I am slightly disorientated before I survey my surroundings. It's a large room painted a dull plain white. My first thought is that I'm in a hospital because it's so clean but then I see a few personal items. On the wall by a door there are a few pictures taped up to the wall. From where I am lying on the bed I can just make out that Jace and Alec are in the photos._

_To stop the dizziness from taking me over, I close my eyes shut and count down from ten hoping that the nauseous feeling will subside. When it eventually does I open my eyes to see six figures looking at me, all with curious and concerned expressions._

"_Who died?" I joke. No one laughs. "Did you eat some of Izzy's cooking?" Again, I try to lighten the mood but to no avail. The six of them – Magnus, Alec, Jace, Jon, Izzy and Simon – just stare at me like I'm an alien species that has come to conquer the Earth. "Seriously, why are you all looking so gloomy and dark?" Again, they don't answer._

_After a few minutes of staring, Jon breaks the extremely awkward silence._

"_We don't want you here," He says, his face void of any emotion and his voice is dark and cold. "You'll put us all in danger. That's all you are able to do, Clarissa. Hurt people. You hurt everyone. You hurt our mother. You hurt me. You'll hurt Jace. What will you do when Jace inevitably leaves you? Will you cry like the pathetic creature you are? Of course you will. You are weak. We all hate you. Your actions have consequences, Clarissa Adele Morgenstern. You have to be punished for that." _

_A sadistic grin contorts his features. Slowly, Jon's face morphs slightly into someone else's. This new Jon has sharper features and has grown an inch or two taller creating a more menacing look. His eyes have changed as well. In place of bright green orbs that are shining with life are dark almost black unforgiving eyes. This isn't Jon. This is him. This is my father. Valentine._

_My head is spinning and I can't seem to move. Valentine just stands there grinning like a mad man. He leans over to me and whispers something in my ear. "Every single thing you have ever cared for will die. I will destroy you, Clarissa Adele Morgenstern, my daughter. I will break you by killing all of them. I'll start with your mother. Then I'll slit your brother's throat. After that I will take the one you love, I will make him suffer and I will make you watch as the life slowly and painfully drains out of him. And there will be nothing you can do about it." _

_Valentine pulls back slightly and presses a kiss to my cheek. To anyone else it would just be a kiss on the cheek from their father and nothing more. But his touch disgusted me, I could barely breath whilst his hands were near me. Valentine notices my horrified expression and smirks down at me._

_He then utters one word. "Erchomai."_

I wake with a start, a thin layer of perspiration gleaming sickly against my pale skin. What was that dream about? I put aside that thought for a moment and just close my eyes to try and gain my composure. As I close my eyes I hear a sharp intake of breath and I immediately stiffen. That's when I realise that I am not in my own bed. Trying not to make big movements, I slowly reach down to my foot to grab a knife from my shoe when I realise that I'm not actually wearing any footwear. Great, just great. I think bitterly. So this is the situation: I don't have a clue where I am and I'm weapon less. Fan-freaking-tastic!

Sighing, I open my eyes and survey the room. It is exactly the same room as the dream. Plain and well-kept with a scarce amount of personal items, the only thing showing that someone actually lived here was the few pictures on the wall. Unlike the dream – or shall I say nightmare as that is more fitting – there isn't anyone standing at the end of my bed. I release a breath that I was unaware I was holding.

Forgetting about the other presence in the room, I roll out of the bed. The other person in here doesn't say a word as I make my way to the door. When I reach my hand out to the door knob, the sound of someone clearing their throat is heard. Hand still on the door, I turn around to see the person. The second I see the head of white blonde hair, I scream. It's not like screaming will do anything though. Without even thinking, I swing the door open and run. I sprint down the familiar corridor of the Lightwoods' mansion and into the kitchen to scour for a weapon. Hastily, I take a large knife from its place in the knife block and hold it with a firm grip in my right hand.

Moments later the heavy thudding of footsteps resound throughout the house. It's not one person though. There's multiple sets of footsteps, five maybe. Valentine bought men with him? Is he completely insane now?! The footsteps grow louder and louder as they stomp in my direction.

Suddenly, there's a blinding white light in the kitchen as someone turns the lamp on. Slightly dizzy from the brightness, I don't immediately throw the knife. No, instead I decide to take a quick look at my opponent. I understand how Valentine's brain works. He would have sent his most loyal and best trained to get me, Blackwell, probably. Maybe Pangborn. That's if any of them are still even alive.

I'm surprised when I see who the figure is. The man has beautiful eyes like molten gold. Those eyes can only belong to one person. Jace.

No. Jace is here. Jace is with Valentine. He has been working for Valentine all along. From the beginning, Jace had been deceiving me since the second he met me. No, Valentine must have set this all out before I even came to live here; before he supposedly died most likely.

Slowly, Jace walks towards me with his hands up in surrender. I hesitate to make a move but then come to my senses. The knife sails through the air heading directly towards Jace. His eyes widen in disbelief but he manages to duck milliseconds before impact. The blade sticks in the kitchen wall near the doorway and barely misses Jace. Jace however just stands as still as a statue. At that moment, three more people entered the room, all their expressions matching that of Jace's. They stare bug-eyed at me and I only then notice who they are – Jon, Izzy and Alec. This doesn't make any sense, why are they here?

"Clary," Alec says sounding shocked with maybe a slight hint of worry, for who I am not sure. "Clary, you need to go back to bed."

"NO!" I shout, obviously surprising them. Jon takes a step towards me. I remember what Valentine said to me so I take one step backwards. "Don't." I whisper. Jon stops dead in his tracks.

"Clare, please?" Jace pleads with me, obviously recovered from his shock now. I don't know why he was so surprised anyway. I shake my head but this doesn't stop him. He takes one step and stops for a second to see if I'll complain and much to his obvious relief I do not. Jace then practically sprints over to where I am and wraps me in his embrace.

I now realise how stupid an assumption I had made, Jace isn't with Valentine. Jace isn't like. That. I feel safe whenever I'm with Jace, I feel like he'll keep me safe however ridiculous that sound; no one is safe when it comes to the infamous Valentine Morgenstern. I sound like such an obnoxious teenage girl with overactive hormones. I giggle uncharacteristically at the thought of me turning into a typical teenage girl with a pink frilly skirt. Jace gives me a questioning look but I just grin. He rolls his eyes. We're broken out of our silent conversation when a very tired Robert comes through the door.

"As lovely as it is to see you two finally together," I feel my cheeks heat up at what he is insinuating. "I would love to know why I was woken up at this god forsaken hour by someone screaming bloody murder." He says adopting that calm parental scolding tone that is used far too much. Then he adds, "Also Clary should not be out of bed with that cut of hers." Cut?

"That would be me who woke you up," I say sheepishly. "But what do you mean, I feel fine?"

"You don't remember what happened yesterday?" Izzy asks, I shake my head as a no. She sighs. "Clary, you were stabbed by this weird gothic dude that said he was your dad." I gasp, it all coming back to me – the rooftop, Valentine whispering horrible threats in my ear, him stabbing me. Shit! So neither Jace nor Jon have said anything, thank the angel.

"I…" I struggle to find any words. "I need to leave." I state whilst trying to pull away from Jace who then tightens his grip protectively on me. I am mentally rolling my eyes at the moment.

"Clary, you are not leaving this house while you are still injured, do you hear me?" Robert says.

"I'm perfectly fine." I inform him. Robert narrows his eyes at me.

"Hmm," Robert says. "So, let me get this right. You, someone who was stabbed less than 24 hours ago in their stomach, a very good shot if I might say." Izzy and Alec give their father an incredulous look. I laugh.

"It was a good shot, a few inches to the right and…" I trail off knowing that they'll understand.

Robert nods. "Yes, but that is beside the point. You are not leaving this house, Clary," He says in a commanding tone. "You're not well enough."

"I'm perfectly fine." I repeat.

"Clare," Jon says softly. "You. Were. Stabbed." He says each word slowly as if he was talking to some delinquent. "You're not okay, you shouldn't even be moving in case the stitches come out."

"I'm perfectly fine." I repeat once again in the same monotone voice. Jon growls in frustration.

"Clary, you're up," Maryse says as she enters the kitchen. "How are you feeling?" Before I can answer a little nine year old lightwood comes running into the room heading straight to me.

"Clary, you're okay," Max says as he wraps his small arms around my waist and buries his head into my shirt. His words are slightly muffled from my shirt as he speaks. "They said you were hurt and that I couldn't see you. And then I saw blood on a shirt – your blood. But you're okay now!" Max looks up to me and his grey eyes are glistening with unshed tears. I hug him back, amazed by how much this little boy cares for me, someone who has met him mere days ago and done absolutely nothing to earn this much concern from him.

"Max, you need to go back to bed and get your sleep." Maryse instructs. Max starts to complain but I cut him off and bend down so I'm eye level with him.

"Max," I say as gently as possible. "I really need you to go get some rest, okay? Because if you're tired tomorrow we won't be able to go to Forbidden Planet, will we?" His smile lights up on my face and he bounds up the stairs without another word back to his room.

Maryse smiles thankfully at me and I just shrug my shoulder saying that it wasn't a big deal. She then instructs me to sit on one of the stools near the counter and pull up my top slightly so she can check that it's all okay. I see her face light up with horror as she looks at where I was supposedly stabbed, her eyes flick from my abdomen to my questioning eyes before she stumbles backwards almost knocking the fruit bowl over on the way.

"Mum," Alec says, concern lacing through his voice. "Mum, are you okay?" This seems to snap Maryse out of whatever she was in.

"Clary, how do you feel?" Maryse asks shakily.

"Just dandy!" I say in a very odd accent.

"Clary, there's no wound." Maryse whispers as she looks me in the eyes.

"SHIT!" I mutter quite loudly under my breath. Everyone is giving me weird looks which I am blatantly ignoring. I jump out of my seat and pull my top down so no one can see it, or rather _not_ see it, and head towards the door. Nobody stops me from making my way out so I just carry on. How could I be so careless? How the hell could I forget about _that_?! This can't get any worse now. As if the universe hates me, it just goes and proves me wrong. Apparently things can get worse at this moment because Jace is jogging up towards me. I contemplate on fleeing but know that won't get me very far as he'll probably catch me up somehow.

"Red," Jace says softly whilst reaching for my arm which I then put across my chest and fold the other on top. I remain stoic and emotionless as I make my way to the front door. Jace sighs. "Clary, do you feel okay?" I nod. "What was that about with Maryse?" No answer. "Why was she so freaked out?" No answer. "Are you just going to leave like you always do?" Again, no answer. He sighs. "Do you trust me, Clare?" Jace asks sounding defeated. This takes me aback. I turn my head slightly to glance at Jace who is staring hopefully at me.

All I can do is nod. If there is one person that I trust the most at the moment, it would be Jace. I don't know why but I do, I trust him with my like. Call me crazy because I haven't known him long enough, but I do. I trust him, trust isn't something that a lot of people get from me. Jace is beaming once I nodded, I guess trust means as much to him as it does to me.

"Do you love me?" Jace asks quietly. I stop dead in my tracks causing Jace to ram straight into me, however, I do not stumble or even move an inch; I remain rigid as if I was a plant. "Because if you don't love me or if there will never be a chance between us," He takes a breath. "I would like to move on."

I am at a loss for words and that is a very rare occasion. Do I love him? It's a question I've been asking throughout my life, but am I even capable of love? I've forgotten what it feels like to love or to be loved for that matter. Ever since meeting Jace I have been asking myself this more and more often. It's like I want to love Jace but I'm not sure if I can. After all to love is to destroy and I don't want to destroy him. There is a possibility that I love Jace, I mean I feel different around him, it's something I've never felt before. Whenever I am remotely near Jace I feel happier and safe and… alive. Yeah, he makes me feel like I'm living, not just surviving. Jace makes me want to live not just survive; he makes me want to be a better person and actually do something with my life rather than wasting. I want to be a better person for Jace. Jace is the person I go to for anything now but… I just don't know. Is this what love feels like? Because if this is what it feels like then I'm not sure if I'm a big fan of it. I just feel all weird, confused and emotional, I don't deal well with handling my emotions, and I usually just end up shooting winged fiends. I like the idea of loving someone. I particularly like the idea of being in love with Jace. But can I? Do I love Jace? Am I in love with Jace? I really don't know. But I do know one thing – I want to find out.

"I think that I want to…" I say slowly.

Quite confused, Jace asks, "Do what?"

"Love you. Love someone, anybody! I know I sound crazy but I just don't know if I can love or if it even exists but I think if I was to love anybody it would be you. I just… I just don't know how to love without destroying though and the thought of me hurting you somehow sickens me." I admit, the words just spilling off my tongue. I have no idea what I'm saying but I just kinda know that it's the truth.

"Love exists. I love you, Clare." Jace says and I can tell that he isn't lying through the way he speaks with such sincerity. And his tawny eyes glisten with hope.

"I think…" Am I really going to do this? For your whole life you have been content with keeping this to yourself, why tell now, why burden them? My inner asshole asks. I shake my head to rid myself of such thoughts. "I think I want to talk you and Jon and Jon now. I need someone to know this for me."

"Clary, you're talking weirdly," Jace states anxiously. "What do you mean, Clary? You're talking like you're going to d-"He cuts himself off there realising that that is in fact exactly what I meant. "Don't you dare ever so much as think that again!" Jace snaps angrily.

"Jace," I place my hand on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down, it works. "My life is much more dangerous than you think. There are things that only my father knows about me. Things that could endanger everything I care for and I won't let any of you get hurt so you need to understand why. Therefore, I'll tell you," I breathe. "I'll tell you and Jon all of it. _Everything_."

Jace's eyes widen and he tries ineffectively to hide his surprise. "Clary, it can't be that bad. You don't have to do this. Whatever it is that happened to you, I'm sure that it will all be okay. Whatever that bastard did to you, it doesn't matter. You're safe and he can't get you, he doesn't need you. You're strong, so strong, and you'll be able to kick his ass to Australia if he comes within two miles of you!"

This doesn't encourage me at all and Jace knows it. "Jace, I was stabbed yesterday. How deep was the wound?" I query.

He scratches his head. "Deep, that's about all I know. Mum said that it will take months to heal – if it even does – and there'll probably be damage to your internal organs. She also said that there will always be a scar there. I'm sorry, Clare."

"Jace," I say slowly. "Look at it." He gives me a weird look and I indicate for him to look at my stomach where the wound should be. Operative word there being _should_. His eyes widen in disbelief and makes an odd sound in the back of his throat that sounds like a dog supressing a gasp.

"Clary, where is it? It's not here." He says whilst studying my abdomen as if a stab wound is suddenly going to appear if he looks hard enough.

"No shit, Sherlock," I say sarcastically. "As I said, I want to talk."

"Holy crap," Jace mumbles. "Clare, maybe this is as bad as you made it out to be. You're right we are in need of a serious talk right now." He says shakily. "So everything, huh?"

"Everything," I agree. "I'm an experiment, Jace. That's all I am and I just want you to know before I tell you everything that I… I…" I shake my head not able to say anything.

In a somewhat awkward silence, Jace and I head to the guest bedroom in which Jon is staying in. As the door swings open, I take a ragged breath and sit on the bed next to a slightly startled Jon. Well this is it, it's now or never. Actually, I'd prefer never. How do I say this? I don't even know if I'm able to recount it all. All of my memories are hidden in a little box at the back of my mind which is labelled 'Do not touch unless you have a death wish'. To unlock this box will just make it all that little bit worse. I think it's always worse reliving your nightmares because you know that it's not something you can escape from because it was, or has been, real.

So this is it, this is when I tell the two people I trust most the story of how I became what I am today. Of how I am nothing but a rat in a lab. The scientist's little failed project. A shattered and unfixable little girl with extra-terrestrial daddy problems. Yup, that's me.

I take a deep breath to calm my nerves. It doesn't work very well.

I find the key.

I locate the box.

I turn the key.

I unlock the box.


	18. Stories

_**DAMAGED GOODS – CHAPTER 18 – Stories**_

_**JACE POV:**_  
I can't actually believe that she is going to tell us everything. I know I should be thinking about how exactly Clary has no wound, but I am not. All I'm thinking is this: I can't believe she trusts me this much. It's stupid to be thinking this in a situation like ours but I can't help myself. At the risk of sounding like a teenage girl, it makes me elated to know that she trusts me as much as she trusts Jon – someone who has known her since birth. Whereas I have known Clary for around 1/96 (Yes, I partially did the math) of the time that Jon has. Yet, she still trusts me.

I guess it means so much to me because it gives me faith. Faith that one day in the near future, Clary could love me. Trust is one step to that goal. Also, when I did ask her if she loved me, she didn't say no. Clary is so afraid of love, probably because of her upbringing. I think even if Clary did love me, she wouldn't know it herself. When it comes to love, Clary is absolutely clueless.

If there is one thing about Clary that I am certain is this: she is one special cookie!

"So, where shall I start?" Clary laughs nervously.

"Preferably the beginning." Jon supplies.

Clary glares at her brother. "Erm… I don't think I can do this…" She purposely avoids eye contact with either of us and keeps her gaze locked on the very interesting bedroom door.

I shuffle over to where she is sat on the bed and take her petite hands in my own calloused ones. She doesn't flinch away like usual but still refuses to meet my eyes. Sighing, I gently grab her chin and force her to look at me. Her emerald eyes are glistening as if she was holding in tears. That's not right, is it? Jon said that Clary _never_ cries. When her eyes meet mine, I can tell that it is in fact tears in her eyes. If whatever Clary is about to tell us can deduce her to tears, then I have no idea how I will cope. Erm… it's not like I ever cry though… I am a man. Men don't cry. I give Clary's hands a slight squeeze to reassure her.

Clary looks so innocent in this moment. Her walls have been crushed down exposing what lies within them – a scared and scarred girl. I know how much doing this will cost Clary and I am so unbelievably proud of her for deciding to tell us. It's stupid how much I feel for this one girl. But then again, Clary isn't just any girl. She is unique. And beautiful. And completely and utterly amazing. The list could go on for miles.

When she eventually does speak, her voice comes out as a whisper and is slightly trembling. "I'll tell you everything. But you have to promise me two things," We both nod. "The first is that you don't interrupt me at all. The second one is that you promise that you won't hate me afterwards. I don't know if I'd survive without you two..."

I'm pretty sure I can hear my heart break just a little at how vulnerable she sounds. "Clary," I speak in a whisper. "I swear on my life that I will never hate you." This seems to appease her as she nods slightly.

"If you even think that you have to make me promise that then you're delirious, I will always love you, Clare-bear. No matter what you tell us, I could never in my life hate you. I treasure your life more than I do my own. Don't you ever think that I would hate you." Jon says, unlike my voice his was strong and certain.

I'm pretty sure that one stray tears makes its path down Clary's cheek and drips slowly off her chin. But I must have been imagining it… Probably.

"When we were little, before our parents got divorced, we were a normal happy family. Jon and I would play in the park and Dad – Valentine – would push me on the swings and we would all be laughing. After the divorce nobody laughed anymore. I was five when our parents divorced. Being so young, I didn't fully understand what was happening. All I could comprehend was that I could either live with Mum and Jon or Valentine. I was informed that if I went with my mother, my dad would be all alone. Being the naïve five year old that I was, I chose to live with daddy – Valentine – so he want lonely. Biggest mistake of my life.

Valentine became a shell of a man. Without mum he felt incomplete, like a part of him had been ripped out. Just… hollow. I suspect that he had completely forgotten that I lived with him. I was never given food, I had to learn how to fend for myself, how to live completely by myself when I was five.

It was when his parents died that Valentine broke. Something inside of him just snapped. I never met my grandparents but from the way my father had spoken so highly about them, I had always had this amazing image of them in my head. The day of the funeral Valentine came home in the early afternoon – I hadn't gone to pay my respects because my father had forbid me – it turns out that Valentine did indeed know that he had his five year old daughter living with him, he just didn't care. He didn't give a crap about me.

Over the next few weeks, lots of men kept visiting our house – mansion, really, - and they were always in this room at the end of a corridor. I was told that I was never to go in there or it would result in my own demise. Yeah, Valentine threatened his child daughter's life just for some room. None of the big men really paid much attention to me, barely spared me one glance.

One day, my father led me to this room in the far corner of the house, I had never been here before as I spent as much of my time as possible away from the house and all the intimidating people who were inside it. This room was bare except from this weird kind of bed. I was told to lay on the bed, so I did. Then I was being strapped so tightly to the bed that I thought I was going to become part of it. Every part of me was tied down to the bed. I literally couldn't move a muscle.

My father loomed above me, holding a vial of gold liquid. I had asked him what he was doing but all he did was laughed. Laugh at his daughter's fear. When he next came above me, the gold liquid was in a needle. He was going to inject it into me, I didn't have a clue what it was but I knew it wasn't good. I asked him again what was happening and this time he responded. _'I am going to make you perfect, Clarissa,'_ He had said. _'I will male you better than all humans, you will be my weapon.'_ I then asked him what the gold liquid was. _'It's what will make you perfect, my daughter. This will make you worthy of being called my daughter. Once you have this inside your veins, you will be worthy of the Morgenstern name. I like to call it the blood of the angels.'_

Of course, I was thoroughly scared. I felt a small prick at the top of my arm, I knew it was the needle. Trying to flinch away from it didn't work, no, I could not move an inch. I could feel the liquid breaking through my skin and bleeding into my veins. At first it was a searing pain through my arm, then it was a scorching pain through my upper body and after that it was just a relentless heat throughout my entire body. I felt like I was on fire, burning away into ashes. I had never been in so much pain. It was the most horrible thing I've ever had to endure. The pain takes you onto the verge of death and stays there, unforgiving and relentless. It was if I was burning in the deepest pits of hell. Ironic really, as he called it angels' blood. It was an all-consuming agony and all I was able to focus on was my own suffering. Somewhere through all that torture, I could hear laughter.

I'm not sure how long I was in there, he just kept injecting me. I think I blacked out after the ninth one.

When I eventually regained consciousness, I was still in that same room. Every month until I was nine, he would take me into that room and inject me with serum, the angel's blood as I came to call it.

Throughout the next few years my father trained me. Trained me to be perfect, to be the best at every single thing that I ever did. I was his soldier, he trained me to be faultless and I was. If I ever slipped up, if the knife was as much as a millimetre off the centre of the target than he would punish me. Valentine would kick me, punch me, stab me or burn me until I couldn't even move a finger. It was his way of imprinting in my mind that if I wasn't this quintessential human being then I deserved all that I got.

The thing is though, I never fought back. Never even tried to defend myself. Pathetic. I was pathetic, still am really. I could never bring myself to fight him, I didn't want to hurt him. After all, he was my father. I loved him. Although he hurt me in an infinite amount of ways, I loved him and I could not bring myself to lay a finger on him. Evidently the feelings weren't reciprocated. _To love is to destroy and to be loved is to be the one destroyed. _He beat the living daylights out of me practically every other day. As a result of his experiments on me, the next day there wouldn't even be a bruise left over. All of my wounds would be healed. Not one mark on my body. I am an experiment. Simply a rat from a lab. Did you ever notice that I don't wrap my hands if I'm using a punch bag? It's because there is no point. Did you ever notice that I never come home with a single mark on me? Simply an experiment. I never get sick, my body fights the virus off before it can take any effect. I was exactly what he wanted – an undefeatable warrior.

From five years old, that was my life. It was only five years later when Valentine died that it all stopped. He was murdered right in front of my eyes. But I didn't cry, I didn't do anything to help him either. In fact, I relished in his death. It was a chance to escape. A chance to be free. Freedom. I've never really been free, it's funny how you flee one place to be free but end up being even more bound where you are.

The night of his death, I went to the nearest child services that I knew of and they then proceeded to take me to my mum. I knew that my mum and Jon would want answers as to why they hadn't seen me in years, I knew they'd ask questions that I wouldn't be able to answer. So, I thought I would try to stop them from asking. Don't ask me how I did it, but when I came to mum's house, there were bruises splattered all over my body. I was right though, they didn't ask me anything.

A few weeks ago, I felt like something was off, just not exactly right. Of course, everyone I told thought I was just crazy. But then on Valentine's Day after I had gotten out of Taki's, my phone started ringing. It was an unknown caller. When I picked it up, it was him. He said: 'Happy Valentine's Day. Daddy's back'. That's why I left. I knew that if he was back he would come for me. If I was with anyone that I cared for then he would not hesitate to kill them, I would not let that happen.

When you found me, the only reason I came back with you was that I thought it would make you happy if you kind of had one last day with me. I'm sure that when this blows over… I will not be here. So, I thought that I'd make a good effort to be the friend, sister and daughter that you all deserve, even if it was for one day. But that all backfired on me didn't it?

At Taki's when I went into the alley to get some air. He was there. It was like I was a five year old little girl again. I didn't – couldn't - fight back. It was only when I saw the four of you that I realised I had to fight. I had to protect all of you, I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing that one of you got injured because of me. So, I fought back.

And you know the rest."

Throughout the whole time Clary was speaking, she tried to keep her voice monotone but it didn't work, every now or then she would choke on a word, it would be too much for her. I admire her how even in times like now when she should be shaking in her boots, she tries to be strong for everyone else.

I can't believe how much this one girl has been through. She doesn't deserve that. No one deserves that but especially not Clary. Despite everything she has had to endure, Clary is still a beautiful person. She thinks of herself as some cold hearted ice queen bitch but in reality, she is the complete opposite. No matter how hard Clary tries make people hate her, they all still admire her; you can't help it. It's the way she is. Her very rare smiles can lighten the mood wherever she is. When she gives people advice, they can't help but look at her with such respect. No matter how hard Clary tries to be this 'warrior' that she was brought up to be, she just cannot do it. It is in her nature to be caring, kind and gentle. She represses these qualities but every now and then without knowing, she does one small act of kindness that can completely change everything.

She. Is. Amazing.

There is no words to describe how utterly spectacular and amazing she is.

I would happily have swapped places with Clary in a heartbeat.

I loved her before she told us this. Now I love her even more. I didn't think it was possible to love her more but evidently it is. Every day she says one thing or does something that makes me love her that little bit more. Clarissa Adele Fairchild is the perfect girl.

The idea of me hating Clary physically sickens me. I don't see how anyone could possibly hate her after hearing what we just heard. Her story is just one more reason to love her.

Jon looks exactly like me – speechless. He looks as if he is trying to say something but doesn't know what to say, neither do I. So we just sit in silence. Clary looks paler, like very _very _pale, even paler than usual. It's a sickly shade of white and she does not look well at all. All she does is stares at us, her gaze flickering between me and her brother, waiting expectantly for one of us to speak. But we don't. There is nothing I can think of to say that will make Clary's pain lessen.

"Please say something." Clary's quiet broken voice sounds like a scream in the silent room.

Jon is the first to react. "Clare," He whispers sounding like he is on the verge of tears. "Clare-bear, I am so sorry. I'm sorry that I didn't notice. I'm sorry that I didn't help. I am so sorry-"

"Don't you dare apologise, Jonathan Christopher." Clary scolds, her voice now commanding a more steady tone. "It was not your fault at all. I don't understand why people apologise for something that isn't their fault."

"I apologised because it is my fault, Clare." Jon says.

Clary lips turn upwards slightly in a sad sort of smile. "No it's not." With that, Jon jumps across to Clary closing the space between them and embracing her in a hug. Jon holds her so tight it's unreal, like if he lets go of her she will just float away into oblivion. "Jon," Clary chokes out sounding slightly distresses. "Need… air!" Jon quickly unwraps his arms around her and then starts checking that she is still alive by counting her pulse. All the while Clary is just laughing even if it does sound kind of strained. When Jon finally stops his health check up on Clary, she turns to look at me, her stunning emerald orbs boring into my own eyes. Seeing our intense staring match, Jon slips out of the room muttering something about sexual tension.

It is only once he's out of the room that I speak. "I love you," I state. She sighs, in relief or exasperation I do not know. "I love you so _so_ much. I will lay down my life for you, Clarissa Fairchild. You are everything to me. I wish I could take away all your pain. And if you'd let me, I would like to try to do just that." My voice is hopeful.

"Yes." Clary's voice is full of certainty and determination.

Slightly confused I ask, "What?"

"I'd like to let you try." She states. My eyes go wide and I grin like a madman. Clary smiles as well. I close the space between us so that there is mere inches between our faces. Her breath is hot on my ear. It's like I am hyperaware of everything that Clary does, it's unbelievable, I have never felt like this before.

"I love you." I whisper.

Clary stares at me a wistful look crossing her features. "I might be in love with you." She smiles a little. "I'm waiting until I'm sure to tell you, though."

That sounds awfully familiar, I'm sure I've heard Izzy say that before… "Did you just quote Divergent on me?" I ask amusedly, my eyes flicking towards her lips.

"Yes," She breathes out. "I'm not good when it comes to speaking feelings." Her eyes don't leave mine.

"How about we don't talk then?" I propose my voice sounding husky even to my own ears.

"There is better things to do than talking." Clary responds shakily.

Without any hesitation, I lean in and my lips meet with Clary's.


	19. Admitting it

_**DAMAGED GOODS – CHAPTER 19 – Admitting it**_

_**CLARY POV:**_  
We both broke away from the other, gasping for breath but our eye didn't leave each other's intense stare. For what seems like an eternity, but must have realistically only been a few minutes at most, Jace breaks the comfortable silence that is holding the peaceful bedroom.

"Wow…" He breathes out sounding genuinely stunned. "We need to talk?" I think Jace aimed for it to be a statement but came out more as a question as if he was unsure of himself.

"Not now." I plead with him. His just sighs and shakes his stupid stubborn head.

"This is not something you can avoid Clare," His voice is pleading but I won't give in. I won't give in. I won't give in. I repeat this in my head like a mantra. I do not know why I just did that… we kissed. And I didn't stop him. No, in fact I actually encouraged him. What was I thinking? This is so irresponsible. All I'll do is ruin him, I am no good for him. "If you feel anything like I do, then you have to talk."

"But…" I start to object but then realise that there really is no way of getting out of this. I need to stop running and confront my demons. And right now, Jace is one of those unfathomable demons that I have yet to defeat and solve. Oh to hell with it all! "I just… I hate how you make me feel," I admit. A look of hurt flashes across his features and I carry on so I can explain myself. "Whenever I'm around you, you make me feel different. I've never felt like it before and I don't understand what it means. It's… a _nice_ feeling. But, I don't understand it at all. I'm just so confused. You make me so utterly confused. It's all just so… confusing!"

Jace smiles, showing one of his only imperfections – a chipped tooth. Although to me this just makes him real, otherwise it would seem that he is a figment of my imagination because nobody can be _that_ perfect. "You don't understand how you feel?" Jace inquires, I shake my head as a no. "Clary," He says softly. "I knew you couldn't resist my charms." A smirk grows onto his face. MI gape at him, my mouth falling open. With a snap, I shut my mouth. I glare at him and punch him in the arm. Hard. He winces and tries to cover it up with a cough.

"You ruined it!" I shout.

"I'm sorry," He says, not sounding at all sincere. His smirk fades and is replaced with a somewhat serious smile. "I love you."

How can I respond to that?! I'm not even sure how I feel, does he actually expect me to say that I love him too? I… just do not understand anything right now. There is too much going on in my stupid life right now that I can't focus on Jace at the moment. Believe me, I want to but I am unable to. I need to stay on track and keep everybody safe. No distractions. I will not allow myself any distractions. If that includes Jace, then so be it. If I have to hurt him to keep him safe, then I will. The same goes for everyone else.

Jace doesn't utter a word, he just sits still and studies me with his golden eyes. He must notice my inner battle because his molten gold orbs soften fractionally.

"Clary, I know you feel it too." He states, sure of himself but not exactly in a cocky manner like Jace usually is. Whenever we aren't around the others, he is always like this. He exposes the true Jace to me, shows me the caring and gentle side of him. It's as if he wants to display a better version of himself for me. It's almost like Jace is trying to inform me without words that he can be a better person. That he is not in fact the womanizing jerk that everyone else at school see him as. But as a young boy who hides in his own shell to save himself from being hurt. As Isabelle had told me, he had a crappy childhood. Not to be a bitch, but I'm pretty sure my childhood crap beats his.

"To be honest, Jace," I say. "I do not have a clue what I feel when it comes to you but I am not getting into anything," His joyous smile slowly fades and transforms into a scowl. "I can't let you – any of you – get hurt because of my own reckless and self-serving decisions."

Jace shakes his head, a few golden curls falling on his face and an amused smile plays at his lips. "You don't realise how much we all love you, Clary," In his eyes I can detect no lies behind his words. "Wherever you go, we'll follow so we can protect you from anything. None of us will let you get hurt so stop thinking about all of us 'cause we'll be fine as long as you don't push us away," He reaches out to me and cups my hands in his, completely swallowing them. "Let me help, Clare." His tone is pleading.

"Jace…" I sigh.

"Do not push me away. I know you're trying to protect me, but if you push me away, you'll just make me feel 100 times worse than I would." His eyes don't leave mine. He has no idea how much I just want to give in. But the thought of me purposely making Jace hurt makes me physically ill. Why does he do this to me? No one else has ever had this effect on me, I don't know if it's all a good or bad thing.

If I leave him then I'll break him. There would be no more light in his eyes, he would just be… dead. I can't do that to him. I think I might… _like_ him.

Never in a million years did I think I would be doing this. "Fine." I whisper. Jace's eyes widen slightly and you can just see his delight. He pulls me into a hug and holds on to me so tightly that I'm not sure if I won't explode.

"I love you so much, Clarissa Fairchild." He murmurs into my hair. For some odd reason, this makes me smile.

I can't help but think about when Jace says he loves me. I don't flinch away or wince whenever he tells me that he does. It actually makes me kind of… happy. Is that bad? The idea of Jace loving me doesn't make me scared or anxious, no for some bizarre reason it brings me joy. Being around Jace makes me realise that maybe love isn't as destructive as I was led to believe. I no longer believe that love is a fairy tale that people tell themselves, it is real. Now I am sure of that. It can be the making or breaking of a person. Love has the power to make someone a better being. Love is powerful. Love is reckless. Love. Is. Real. And I think that I might be in it.

Jace makes the subject of love so much less daunting. For the first time in my life, I think I am capable of loving. No, I am certain. I can love. I love my brother. I love my mother. I love all of my friends that have been there for me even when I was a complete ice bitch. Hell, I even love Phil from the pizza delivery. Okay, maybe that was a bit far but still, I made my point.

"Clary," Jace whispers into my ear sending a shiver down my spine. His hot breath is on my neck and I can't bring myself to move away from him. He moves so that his face is less than an inch away from mine, our noses practically touching. "You have no idea how much I want to kiss you right now." His voice is slightly husky.

"Believe me, I think I know." What am I doing?! Do not flirt with him, Clary. I scold myself.

"I have wanted to push you up against a wall and kiss you like no one ever has since the moment I laid eyes on you. Can I kiss you?"

My mind is screaming at me. Say no. Don't let this happen. You cannot let this go on. Tell him that you're going through something right now or some crap like that. Do not kiss him. He can't get into this mess that I call my life.  
"Yes."

That is all the confirmation that he needed before his lips were on mine. Immediately I responded, kissing him with as much passion, if not more. This kiss held all of our hidden emotions and longing for each other. When Jace asked for entrance I happily obliged. I was vaguely aware of Jace's muscular arm snaking around my waist and pulling me closer to him so I was flush against his body. In return I raked my hands through his soft golden locks and tugged on his hair to deepen the kiss. Jace groaned and I smirked against his mouth. At some point, my legs had found their way around Jace's torso. His hands slip under my thighs and he squeezes them slightly before lifting me off the bed so that every single part of our bodies were pressed against the other. Just like Jace had described a few moments earlier, he pressed me up against a wall and kissed me with so much love. My hands explored his well-defined body, running up his back and underneath his shirt, I could feel his muscles rippling. His hands ran up and down my upper body but he never went further than that. He was being a gentleman. But I really did not want a gentleman right now.

We broke of our kiss, both panting. My head rested in the crook of his neck and I could detect the scent of sandalwood that was just intoxicating on Jace. I needed more. Jace peppered my neck and collar bone with butterfly kisses. His hands were gripping my hips as if he was trying to calm himself. I wrapped my legs round him tighter and his grip on me hardened. Lifting my head, I looked in his eyes which were a darker shade of gold than before. Slowly, I slipped my hands down his back, slightly raking my nails which caused him to moan, and pulled at the hem of his top, urging him to take it off. He complied and it was off in seconds. He did not waste time.

Our lips met feverishly and moved in sync with each other. If it was possible, this kiss was filled with even more fervour and craving. Tentatively, Jace's hands travelled to the bottom of my top and hung there for a second as if he was asking permission. Internally I was rolling my eyes at how polite he was being in this situation. I nodded slightly to say that it was okay. One of his hands came up to cup my neck whilst the other slowly unzipped my top, everywhere that his hands skimmed my back felt like it was on fire. Somehow, without breaking off our kiss, Jace managed to get my top off. He squeezed me tighter to him so that there was no space between us at all.

His hands left my back and came to rest on the underside of my thighs. He lifted me up slightly and carried me across the room, our lips still locked together. With a surprising amount of care, he positioned us onto the bed so that I was pinned beneath him. He rested his elbows either side of my head so he did not put all his weight on me. Again, I internally roll my eyes. Quickly, I knock his elbows out so all his weight is on me and is pressed completely against me. Jace's legs are in between my own.

With our chests heaving, we reluctantly pull away, desperately needing oxygen. After gulping down the much needed air, my eyes once again settle on Jace. I can't help but marvel at him; he is without a shadow of a doubt the most beautiful person I have ever had the pleasure to meet.

"So," Jace says sounding slightly breathless. "Where does this leave us?" I avoid his eyes, not knowing how to respond. "So we just had a very heated make out session," My cheeks are probably the same shade as my hair right now. "We are in a very compromising position," He continues, I feel even _more_ heat rush to my face. "So, what are we?"

"Friends?" I squeak out.

Jace chuckles humourlessly. "Friends that spontaneously kiss?" He raises an eyebrow. "I'm not that into the concept of friends with benefits."

"It was a good movie." I try but he just rolls his eyes. "Can we DTR later?" I ask hopefully.

"DTR?" Jace questions.

"Define the relationship, dumbass." I say with a smirk creeping in.

"No."

I'm suddenly overwhelmed with a wave of tiredness and can't stop the long yawn that slips out of my mouth. Jace must realise that I really am tired and doesn't try to push me any further. He pulls me on top of him so my head rests on his chest, my leg draped lazily over his.

"You said you might love me," Jace whispers, I nod. "Did you meant it?" I roll slightly so that I'm lying on his chest, looking directly into his stunning gold eyes.

"I meant it." I confirm, his lips twitch upward in a small smile.

"That is all I need."

I turn back over with my head resting on Jace's chest. Jace's steady breathing lulls me into a relaxed state of darkness in which there is only peace; for the first time there was no nightmares. Maybe Jace wards off the demons for me. With that though, I succumb to the dark vortex that people call sleep.

When I wake up, I am slightly disorientated. There is a weight across my abdomen and it is only when I glance down do I notice that there is a tanned, muscular arm wrapped around my waist and I am pulled closely to the golden skinned man. Jace. I sigh and relax back into his embrace.

Am I really doing the right thing by letting Jace in? What if I get him hurt? What if anyone gets hurt because of me? Did I really basically tell Jace that I may love him? When did my life get extra terrestrially messed up? Thousands of questions swim through my head making me second guess myself. Clarissa Fairchild does not second guess herself. I'm so concerned for everyone else's wellbeing that I've started to question my own actions; that is not good. If I start doubting myself then I will not be able to think decisively. Therefore I will make the wrong decisions and endanger everyone. Solution – STOP SECOND GUESSING MYSELF! Okay, that mental scream was too loud in my head.

Next to me, Jace stirs and pulls me so we're flush together. A contented smile tugs at his lips when he realises that it's me next to him. Before I can say anything, Jace grabs my hips and rolls us over together so that he is straddling me. I can't stop the laugh that bubbles up through my throat. Jace grins at me and presses a soft kiss to my forehead.

"Morning," He greets me, his voice still heavy from sleep. "Are you okay?" Worry creeps its way into his voice.

I grin widely at Jace. "Is it bad that, despite everything that has happened in the last 24 hours, I feel like I'm on cloud nine?"

"Well," Jace smirks. "You do have this hunk of eye candy all to yourself." He teases, I roll my eyes at his egotistical nature that is in an odd way quite obnoxiously endearing. Is that weird? Of course it is.

"Eh," I say boredly, feigning disinterest. "I've seen better." I smirk at Jace who raises an eyebrow.

"Take that back." Jace demands, an evil glint in his eyes.

"Nope." I say popping the 'p'. This causes that evil glint in his golden orbs to grow. Before I can compromise what he is doing, his hands are attacking me, tickling me so much that I am struggling to breathe through my laughter. He is relentless!

Through gasps of laughter I say, "Jace… Stop… BREATHE!" Jace pulls his hands away and chuckles whilst I glare venomously at him. He slows his laughter and looks me in the eyes, green clashing against gold. Slowly, Jace leans in as if he is about to kiss me, I take a shaky breath and lean in too-

"If young Jonathan saw you in this very compromising position, I doubt he would have any mercy in killing you, Blondie." Drawls Magnus, obviously he is thoroughly amused. Jace and I spring apart, Jace even has the decency to be embarrassed as his cheeks flush a very light pink, almost unnoticeable. Almost. I smirk at Jace who in turn rolls his eyes, knowing exactly what I mean. That's when I remember about the other presence in the room, Jace must as well because we detach ourselves and turn around to see not one, but four faces staring at us.

"Thank the Angel!" Izzy cries. "The sexual tension was absolutely suffocating!" Magnus, Alec and Simon nod their heads in agreement. The blood rushes to my cheeks in embarrassment. I swear that they do not understand privacy, because they just invaded it! Completely unaware of how awkward and uncomfortable this if for Jace and me, Izzy flounces in and jumps onto the bed sitting cross legged. She then proceeds to study me and Jace. Creeper… The other three follow Iz in and find a seat in the room. Seriously?! Jace and I just stare incredulously at our friends.

"So…" Simon starts uncomfortably, shifting in his sweet.

"So?" I respond in the same tone.

"You going to tell us anything, Clary?" Alec asks softly. Le sigh.

What's there to lose?

So I tell them. I tell them everything. And all the while I hold Jace's hand.


	20. Couple?

_**DAMAGED GOODS – CHAPTER 20 – Couple?**_

_**JACE POV:**_  
Ever since Clary told everyone about her eventful past a few weeks ago, everything has been quiet. There has been no more appearance from Valentine and it is all normal. Not. We're all trying to act normal and pretend that everything is okay for the sake of Clary. And Clary… well, she's not so great. Whenever she's around anybody her walls are built up high and she tries to act like none of it affects her but I can see that it does. If she thinks she is alone and that nobody can see her, the walls come down and you can just see the fear and sadness rolling off of her in waves. Clary is utterly distraught and nobody has been able to change that. I've got to admit though, if it was anyone else in her position, they would be literally quaking in their boots. But no, Clary tries to be strong for those she loves. One of the many things that I respect, admire and love about her.

Since the day when Clary and I had a very… heated make-out session, things have been slightly _odd_ between us. We have kissed multiple – more like thousands – of times since then but that is all we've done. If she has needed me then I will be there for her no matter what. However, we haven't exactly had a conversation about _us_ yet. I understand with everything she is going through right now that Clary doesn't need an extra pressure put on her by me so I just haven't bought up the topic at all, to make sure that she is alright. But don't get me wrong, I am not alright with that. In fact, it is actually killing me not to be able to call her my girlfriend. Not to be able to tell her how much I love her every second of every day.

Jon walked in on us one day whilst we were locked in a very passionate embrace. To say he was mad would be the understatement of the year. It was more like furious. Livid. Seething. Take your pick. He demanded an explanation that neither of us were able to enlighten him with. After a while he let it go, Jon wasn't exactly happy with mine and Clary's current odd relationship but learned to accept that we might kiss. A lot.

In school, Clary has been getting sent out of class in practically every lesson, even art. If Clary plays up in art then you know that something is wrong. Even the other students who barely know Clary were quite shocked that she had been bad mouthing the teacher. Art is Clary's escape, more so than music. Over the last couple of weeks, she has been drawing and painting more and more frequently. Sometimes she just locks herself up in her studio for hours and when she emerges, she would have completed several masterpieces. But, in art class, Clary tried to make it a living hell and she was doing a damn good job at it so far.

Whenever she was sent to the principal – Luke – she always came back out within ten minutes with her eyes full of regret and sadness. It amazed me how much that Luke affected her, they had an odd relationship those two and even though she would not admit it, Clary appreciated and treasured his opinion. As expected, Jocelyn and Luke are worried sick every time that Clary steps out of the door or is out of their sight for too long. Neither of them know exactly what Clary told Jon and I; neither do the others, really. When Clary re-told Magnus, Alec, Izzy and Simon her story, she told them the basics and everything that happened but didn't – couldn't, I guess without breaking down – tell them all the specifics. I think that if she had told it a third time, Clary would have just blown up. It would have been too much for her in one day.

We are all biding our time; walking on eggshells, just waiting for Valentine to make his next move. Clary has her guard up 24/7, she cannot stay still for two minutes, and her leg will be bobbing up and down, her eyes darting around to scan everything for a threat. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she _is_ scared.

Currently, we are sitting in Maths with Starkweather droning on about some equation crap or something like that which is equally as crappy. I'm surprised that Clary hasn't made a sarcastic comment yet, she is just gazing emptily out the window that shows the very attractive scene of a high school car park. I know it is really pathetic and so cliché-I'm-in-love-with-this-girl kind of thing but I'm working up the courage to ask Clary to this dance thing that the school is having on Friday… so that would be tomorrow. Don't judge me, I'm always nervous when it comes to Clary. Man, I sound like such a love-struck teenage girl. It is totally obnoxious. Am I seriously having an argument in my own head? By the Angel…

"What are you staring at, dumbass?!" Clary snaps irritably, her eyes not leaving the window. Was I really staring… whoops!

"You." I respond in a hopefully seductive manner, making a show of looking her up and down. She doesn't even react, just stays still and emotionless, and doesn't even roll her eyes. Her gaze never leaves the window, I mean I know windows are cool and everything 'cause they like let the light in and let you see through walls, but I really don't think that they are _that_ interesting.

"Don't." is all Clary says.

I decide to push my luck a bit, see whether she'll actually say what is on her mind. As she did say that if she was to speak to anybody then it would be me. "What's up? You have been uncharacteristically quiet, I know you have every right to be quiet with erm… everything. Y'know like with… you know who," oh great, now I'm rambling and can't seem to stop myself. Perfect. "And I know you're scared, you have every right to be. But if you ever need me, need anything, I'm here. I love you. Lots and now I'm rambling, aren't I? I just want to say that you don't have to be worried-"

She turns around, her eyes sparkling brightly and full of pure anger. "Don't I?!" She basically shouts. "You're telling me not to be concerned about your welfare. You do not understand that even though you may mean everything to me, you can't be near me. WHY DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT I DON'T WANT YOU TO BE ANYWHERE NEAR ME BECAUSE YOU WILL _DIE_?!" And there it is, all of the emotions that she has been locking up spill out. All the hurt, anger, despair and desperation showing clearly in her words and eyes.

I've grown used to this, Clary trying to push me away to keep me safe. I don't think she understand that no matter what, no matter how much she hurts me to keep me away, I will _always_ come back for her because I love her too much to let anything ever happen to her. I will love Clary Fairchild for as long as I will live.

"You are the one who does not understand," My voice rises to a shout. "I LOVE YOU, CLARE! YOU CAN TRY AND TRY TO PUSH ME AWAY, BUT I WILL NOT GO! GO ON, HURT ME AS MUCH AS YOU CAN, WORDS OR FISTS, I DON'T CARE! I AM NOT LEAVING YOU, YOU IDIOT! GET YOUR HEAD AROUND IT, I AM HERE FOR GOOD AND YOU BETTER REALISE THAT!" By the end of my mini speech, my chest is heaving, from exhaustion, exasperation or annoyance, I cannot be sure. Clary's eyes are wide and that is when I realise that EVERYONE in the class, including Starkweather is watching us with either amusement or surprise. Most of the guys are just trying not to laugh. Immature assholes. Heat rushes to my face and Clary looks as red as a tomato. Actually a more accurate comparison, as red as her hair. Yup, that's better.

"Mr. Lightwood and Miss. Fairchild, would you like to stop your little lover's spat and return your attention to my class please?" Starkweather says, as annoying as ever, at least he hasn't changed. Hodge Starkweather is still completely up himself.

"I'd rather not," Clary says in a clipped tone. "And I thought we were on a freaking first name basis, _Hodge_!" Clary is seething and she actually looks terrifying. Hodge's eyes widen. Good, I'd be concerned about his mental health if he wasn't scared of Clary right now. She looks ready to kill. And I unfortunately mean that literally.

"Clarissa," He over pronounce to appease her, does not work much. "Just pay attention." He turns back to the board and continues his lesson. Nobody pays attention though, every pair of eyes is trained on us, waiting anxiously for one of us to make a move. Seriously, this school is so desperate for any kind of gossip that it is actually quite saddening that these people have no lives!

Clary turns back to me. "You'll die," She says, choking on her words slightly. I can just see everyone's ears peeking up. But I don't take my eyes off Clary, she has my undying attention, like she always does. "And I'm… sorry," Is Clary actually apologising? Clary NEVER apologises. "I'm just so messed up. I don't know when he is coming, what he will do," She takes a breath, her eyes softening noticeably. "God damn it, if I only have a little while left then I am going to enjoy it!" She shakes her head, a few curls coming loose which she hastily tucks back behind her ears.

Before I can ask what she means, her lips are against mine, moving rhythmically in sync with each other in a perfect harmony. We break off, slightly breathless, both with these cheesy goofy grins on our faces as if we had just won the lottery or something. Well, in sense I did. I got something better really, I got Clary.

"You couldn't keep it in your pants for five minutes, could you?" One of the guys from the soccer team – Tiger, I think his name is – hollers. Clary and I just roll our eyes. There is then a few stereotypical 'awws' from the girls in the room. This is the best chance that I will get to ask about the dance, now or never, right? That has kind of been my motto that I use frequently whenever it comes to Clary.

"Do you wanna go to the dance on Friday with me?" I ask sheepishly.

"Seriously," Clary says, shaking her head sounding thoroughly amused. "Okay, firstly that dance is tomorrow. Secondly, you forget that I do not own one dress and absolutely loathe heels. Thirdly, you're such an idiot," She says lightly. This is the first time in week that I've seen Clary remotely happy. "And I hate to admit this but I am going to have to get some help from your psychotic sister."

I grin. "So that's a yes?" I ask hopefully.

"I guess," She says teasingly. "Yeah, I'll go. Try and do something that a normal couple would do." I can't help but smile at the fact that she called us a couple. Her mouth shapes into an 'o' as she realises that she called us a couple. You can't take it back now, thank the Angel. "I'm didn't meant that… I…" She looks down, ashamed of herself.

I grip her chin gently and lift it up so she has to look at me. Then I give her a chaste peck on the cheek to show her that I am completely okay with it, in fact I am overjoyed! Again, love-struck teenage girl.

"Seriously," Some dude says. "Get a freaking room!"

"Happily." Clary said, throwing her rucksack over a shoulder. I grab her hand and we run out of the room, leaving an agitated Hodge and a snickering class.

_**CLARY POV: **_  
Izzy, who is standing beside me squeals like a high functional fangirl and claps her hands excitedly. If I hadn't needed her help, I would be rolling my eyes and making some sarcastic comment about her right now. However, unfortunately I will have to refrain myself from making such comments as I do actually need her help. Because if there is one thing I am clueless about, it would be fashion and all that crap. Fashion to me is skinny jeans, leather jackets and sneakers. But apparently, to a dance you have to wear a dress, so I begrudgingly asked Izzy to take me shopping so she can find me a dress.

"Are you serious?" Reluctantly, I nod my head in answer to Izzy's question. Izzy squeals again, this girl is definitely excitable, not that I didn't know that already. "I am going to make you look HAWT! Jace will not be able to keep his hands off you when I'm done. Well, he can't keep his hands off of you anyway so this will be even better. Okay, I will take the car and you follow me on your bike to the mall."

At that moment, Magnus flounces over to our table, as glittery as ever. "Did I hear someone say mall?" He raises a glittery eyebrow.

"Yes!" Izzy screams. "Jace and Clary are going to the dance tomorrow and we are getting a dress for her today, you are totally coming, Mags, I need your expertise."

Magnus grins ear to ear. "Darling, any opportunity to go shopping and I will be there, see you two ladies after school then. Goodbye, biscuit." I groan.

This so called shopping trip is going to be tedious.

I have already tried on eleven dresses. To me, they all looked perfectly fine but no, Magnus and Izzy just insisted that it 'wasn't the one', I mean what the hell?! It is just a dress, a piece of stupid fabric. We have been in one shop for two and a half hours and I have yet to but one thing. This is like some kind of purgatory!

I sigh as Izzy hands me yet another dress to try on. Admittedly, it is a nice dress. It's a full length jade gown that has a tight silver belt at the waist. It clings to my body and shows off my almost non-existent curves. It looks nice, I guess. The only problem is that it is a dress – I hate dresses! Also, this dress seems a bit much for some high school dance, does everybody actually get dressed up like this? As I step out of the changing room, Mag and Iz don't say anything at first, they just stare at me and it is getting slightly creepy…

"YOU," Izzy says.

"LOOK," Magnus continues.

"GORGEOUS!" They say in unison. God, they are such odd children. This means that I don't have to try anything else on, I am free! Now I will not have to enter a mall ever again, this day has too many bad memories. I mean, 11 dresses! Do they like putting me through hell? As much as I do hate to admit it, this has been a good way to keep my mind odd _things_.

Every second of every day, all I am able to think about is him. What he is planning. Where he is. When he will come. Everyone has tried to act normal but if I am being honest, nothing is normal right now. I am trying so hard not to be scared, to stay strong for Jon, Jace and everybody else. However, that plan is not working out too well for me, I am sure that Jon and Jace, actually it's more likely that everybody can tell that I am not coping well at all. It isn't exactly every day that you get to say: 'I have a psychotic father who wants to kidnap me, experiment on me and the ultimately murder me. Also, I have a weird relationship with this boy that I could potentially love and we kiss at random times. Did I mention that I HAVE A DERANGED SERIAL KILLER AS A FATHER?!'

I'm snapped out of self-pitying reverie when I see a hand in front of my face, clicking incessantly. "Geez," I say and smack away Izzy's hand. "What?!"

"Where were you, Mars?" Magnus asks amusedly.

"Nope," I say popping the 'p'. "On Uranus, Glitter balls." I retort with a smirk. Being the extremely mature adults that we are, Magnus sticks his tongue out at me and I do the same thing back. Yup, totally grown up.

"You are buying that dress, biscuit. You look s-e-x-y!" Magnus whistles.

I get changed back into my black skinny jeans and Avengers top and pay for the dress. Thank the angel that that torture has now ended. Well, at least I thought it ended. Just when I thought we were done, Izzy pulls me into a shoe shop. Oh good lord, not again!

Four hours later, we emerge from the mall carrying an uncountable amount of bags; it's more like me carrying all the bags because I'm the man in the group at the moment. It turns out that Magnus and Izzy really are shopaholics, we have so many bags full of stuff we bought yet only two of which are actually for me. But I suppose we did get what we came for – my dress. And if I must say so myself, I do like that dress.

As soon as I get home, I go to my floor and just collapse on my bed. Who would have thought that shopping would be so draining?! It is actually like a freaking workout! I must have burnt so many calories from the stress and aggravation of this shopping trip. I will make a vow to myself: I will never again go shopping with Magnus Bane and Isabelle Lightwood. Unless there is food involved, in that case then I will go.

As sleep slowly threatens to come, I can't help but feel that something is wrong. Call me a crazy witch but I just have a feeling that something bad is going to happen. But then again, every day of my life is bad. I shake my head to stop wallowing in self-pity and let the darkness overcome me.


	21. The Doomed Dance

_**Okay, I am so catastrophically sorry that I haven't updated in for ever - 10 days! SO SORRY! Anyways, without further ado, here is chapter 21.**_

_**DAMAGED GOODS – CHAPTER 21 – The Doomed Dance**_

_**JACE POV:**_  
Because of the dance today, we only had a half day and are able to leave after lunch. The tacky decorations have already been put up in the gym. It looks quite hilarious. They try to make this school seem different from every other American high school by having a masquerade ball. It is quite pathetic when you think about it.

Last night after Izzy returned from her four hour long shopping trip with Clary, Clary called me and she was moaning to me about how my sister was a complete nut. I guess Clary isn't the biggest fan of shopping. Okay, that was the understatement of the year. Clary loathes shopping, she hates it even more than me and that is saying something. Izzy had come into my room after my phone call and told me, and I quote: 'You won't be able to remember your name when you see your girlfriend tomorrow' and then she flounced out of the room whilst flipping her hair triumphantly. Typical Isabelle. I did try to correct her that Clary wasn't officially my girlfriend but Iz has very selective hearing and chose to ignore that.

The morning's lessons have gone by agonisingly slowly. I have not been able to focus on anything the teachers have been saying, much to their annoyance. Clary has been sketching throughout all of the classes, normally she only draws when she is by herself for fear of others seeing her work. Normally, if others are around Clary will only draw if she is scared or very apprehensive. Well, she must be more nervous than normal today.

I nudge her with my shoulder lightly, trying to get her out of the trance she is always in when she is sketching or painting. Nothing, no reaction. Her eyes stay on the page and with pencil in hand, her hand skilfully brushes against the page. After trying to gain her attention through various means, I resort to the last technique that always gets her attention – pulling away the sketch book.

"WHAT THE-!" She stops herself as she sees me holding her sketch book and smirking. Her eyes soften slightly but there is still anger there. "What do you want, can't you see that I was busy?"

I gasp in mock shock. "Clary," I tsk her. "I am appalled. You were not paying attention to this oh so marvellous class." She rolls her eyes. "So, what's up?" Clary narrows her eyes at me, a look of suspicion crossing her features. "You were drawing." I expand in a 'DUH' tone.

"Well done, Jace," Her voice drips sarcasm. "You are extremely observant. Do you want a merit for your efforts?" She sneers quite harshly, I'm not fazed by this though. This is Clary's natural instinct when she doesn't feel comfortable or doesn't want to answer something – she pushes people away.

"Clary…" I sigh.

"By the Angel, you're such an ass," She mutters, I can't help but grin at her remark. "It's nothing really," I give her a disbelieving look. "Fine, it's just that, I don't know… Don't worry."

"Tell me, Clary." I say.

"Please don't laugh," She says, flushing a slightly embarrassed shade of light pink. "I feel weird-"

"Do you feel sick?" I ask, effectively cutting her off. "Do you need to go home?"

She rolls her eyes at me. I'm just trying to be a caring boyfriend – caring friend, not boyfriend. Yet. "Not like that, Jace. I don't know, it's just this feeling I get whenever I think that something is wrong. Crazy, I know. Don't worry about it. I am fine." She doesn't sound fine.

"It obviously is something," I point out to which she glares at me. "Whenever you are anxious you sing. But whenever you're confused and scared, you'll draw. You're drawing." Her eyes widen fractionally.

"Why do you have to notice crap like that?" She groans.

"Because I'm amazing." I state matter of factly. This ignites yet another groan from Clary. "Seriously though, Clary?"

"I'm serious. I didn't eat breakfast today, maybe its lack of food?" She suggests. Neither of us believe that but I nod along and go with it for Clary's sake.

The next lesson goes as slowly as the others and when the lunch bell rings, I could not be happier. I see Clary making her way to the cafeteria, I start to sprint so I can beat her to our table. This has been going on for a little while now, Clary and I race each other to see who can get there first. Clary glances behind her and her eyes lock on me, she smirks and starts running in the direction of the cafeteria. I try to catch up with her but to no avail. I stop running and just walk down the hallways, just before I open the door to the cafeteria, something jumps on my back. I thrash about wildly, I am pretty sure that I screamed. Then there is laughter. I turn around to see Clary rolling on the floor laughing. I'll get her back for that.

In between gasps of laughter Clary says, "You… looked like… a… scared blonde ken doll!" I scowl at this.

"I am much better looking than Ken," I state. "And I have a penis." Clary chokes. I smirk. "Shall we go find the others?" She nods.

When we get to the table nobody says hello, in fact they do not even acknowledge our arrival. And I call them my friends! I wail dramatically inside my head. I don't bother sparking up any conversation, it's just me and my head. It's nice and cosy in here with nothing like psychotic undead fathers of best friends that are coming to slay everyone. No, it's peaceful in my head… ish.

Clary obviously sees us as a couple, she basically said so herself even if it wasn't intentional to say. I see her as my girlfriend, so I guess she is. Nope. According to the internet – not that I've looked this up – it says that you actually have to ask a girl to be your girlfriend. But what if she says no? Oh god, I am worrying about rejection. My life has ended. I'm new to all of this, I've never had to ask a girl out, they just, well come to me. But Clary is different and I love her for that. Damn it, man up Lightwood. I scold myself internally. Oh hell, I close my eyes and turn to my left where Clary is sitting.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" I blurt out before I can stop myself.

"Of course, Jacey!" A high pitched voice that is most definitely not Clary squeals. I open my eyes to see that it is Simon beside me not Clary. Well, shit buckets. "I knew you loved me," He continues in an annoyingly high pitched girl's voice. "We'll be together forever!" He wipes a fake tear away and I groan.

"I thought you were Clary." I grumble. Everyone else on the table is howling with laughter, I flip them off not so discreetly.

Simon cups his chest and looks around the table. "I sure don't feel like a girl." He tries to stifle his laughter ineffectively. I curse them all under my breath before turning to my _right _to where Clary is actually sitting. She is attempting not to laugh but her lips are twitching upwards as she tries not to smile.

"Clary."

"Yes, Jace, I will."

"What?" I ask in confusion.

"Be your girlfriend," She says, smiling slightly. "Unless you want to ask Simon." I groan again, I am never going to live this down. It was an honest mistake, how was I supposed to know that rat boy was there. He is as silent and stalker-ish as a rat – hence the name rat boy - so obviously I didn't notice him.

"I thought there would have to be more convincing on my part." I admit. I didn't expect her to say yes, yet again Clary Fairchild surprises me.

"Well, you only live once and I'm pretty sure that my life is going to be depressingly short so why not make the most of it?" She says lightly with a shrug. I do not understand how she can talk about dying like it means nothing to her. Maybe it won't affect her if she dies but it will sure as hell affect me! Before I can say something about her indifference to her own demise, Jon steps in.

"Clare, why do you talk like that?" He says irritably.

Clary brows furrow in confusion. "Like what?"

"Like you don't care if you die." I interject.

Jon sighs. "Do you really not care if you die?"

"Of course I do," Clary says with a shocking amount of hurt in her voice. Her answer surprises us both. "But I have come to terms with the fact that I'll die young." She shrugs again.

"As long as we're here," Jon starts to say.

"Then so will you be." I finish.

"Yeah, whatever," She says disbelievingly. Then Clary stands on the table and wolf whistles, the cafeteria goes silent and watches Clary. People do tend to stop whatever they are doing when Clary is around because I have said so may times before to her, she is as intimidating as shit at times. "I AM JACE'S GIRLFRIEND NOW SO IF I SEE ONE OF YOU SLUTS UNDRESSING HIM WITH HIS EYES THEN I WILL PERSONALLY RIP YOU EYE BALL OUT! YOLO BITCHES! HAVE A NICE TIME AT THE DANCE TONIGHT." With that she climbs off the table and sits beside me slightly leaning against me.

The rest of the cafeteria are staring at Clary in shock while everyone on our table is laughing uncontrollably.

"What was that for?" Izzy asks, trying to contain her giggles.

"YOLO." Clary says simply, a smirk adorning her lips.

The rest of the lunch, we chat casually and banter like normal. Izzy and Magnus talk animatedly about what they are wearing to the dance. Simon and Clary are talking about manga or anime, I don't know which; aren't they the same? Jon makes out with Charlotte. Alec and I talk about soccer. All in all, it seems kind of normal. Normal feels good.

Jon, Alec, Magnus and I wait downstairs for Izzy and Clary to come down.

"Seriously, how long do girls take?" Alec complains for the thousandth time, I do agree with him though. We were all ready hours ago but Iz and Clary are still upstairs getting ready.

"So," I say addressing Jon in an attempt to start a conversation. "What's up with you and Charlie?"

"It's good," His mouth quirks up in a smile. "I really like her." He admits.

"You looovvveeee her!" I admit. Blood rushes to his cheeks. "You do!" I accuse him.

"No, Jace, I don't love her. But… I just think that I could love her. She really is great." I smile, happy that Jon finally has someone to go with to these god forsaken dances. Whenever we went before, Jon would always just stand at the side lines because he never bothered to get a date.

Just then, Izzy walked down the stairs in a blood red dress. But I didn't pay any close attention to my sister, Clary had all of my attention. Like always, she looked truly beautiful. Her dress was a full length gown that fell to just below her ankles. The colour of the dress was almost the same shade of green as her eyes and it brought her eyes out even more. The dress hugged her in all the right places showing off her slight frame and small curves, it was a low neckline and I had to restrain myself from staring. There was minimal make-up on her face, just a line of black eyeliner that made her eyes stand out even more than usual. Stunning. I could not take my eyes off her. Izzy really wasn't lying when she said that I would not be able to think properly. Clary looks amazing. Clary stares back at me, shamelessly looking me up and down which makes me smirk.

"Like what you see, Fairchild?" I ask, a cocky grin on my face.

"Very much." She responds, hooking her arms through mine. Clary puts her silver mask on and I tie the back up for her. My mask is just a plain black one that I got one EBay! As Izzy looks away, Clary slips something down her top. I raise an eyebrow.

"Izzy wouldn't let me take my knife, now shush otherwise she'll hears us." Clary whispers. I shake my head good-humouredly. Only Clary would carry a knife in her bra at all times. She really is one of a kind.

"Come on, hurry up! We're going to be late!" Izzy ushers us into the car and we make our way back to school.

The gym is full of pupils swaying to the music. We find a table with eight seats and set ourselves down there. For a while we just talk, not particularly in the mood to dance. When a slow song comes through the speakers, I stand up and pull Jace with me and sing along to the lyrics of Time of your life by Green Day.

"_Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road  
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go  
So make the best of this test, and don't ask why  
It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time,"_

Jace wraps has arm around my waist as we sway in time with the music. I can't help but think about how high school cliché this is. I laugh a little as Jace twirls me around.

_"It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right,_  
_I hope you had the time of your life._

_So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind_  
_Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time_  
_Tattoos and memories and dead skin on trial_  
_For what it's worth it was worth all the while,"_

I'm surprised when Jace starts singing along with me to the end.

"**It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right,  
I hope you had the time of your life.**

**It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right,  
I hope you had the time of your life.**

**It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right,  
I hope you had the time of your life."**

We laugh together. For the next few songs Jace and I dance together before heading back to our table.

I feel like I'm in some sappy chick flick right now. Like one of those films where the girl and the guy are dancing and they look into each other's eyes and show each other how much they love one and another. I think – I know – that I love Jace. No more crap. I do not believe what Valentine told me. To love is not to destroy and to be loved is not to be destroyed. As cliché as it sounds, I feel more alive than I ever have when I'm near Jace. Love, something I had always thought to be a fairy tale, something you tell yourself is real to make you feel better. It is real and I am in love. I am in love with the most handsome, caring and amazing person known to the Earth. Jace Lightwood.

I can't believe how in the space of three months I have turned from being a cold hearted bitch to some weird high school girl that is pining over a guy, although I am still that cold hearted bitch sometimes. Okay, I am that cold hearted bitch a LOT of the time but my point still stands. I have changed. For the better? I am not sure about that but I think I am happy now so… I'll enjoy it whilst it lasts.

I still have that odd feeling though. It's a feeling in the pit of my gut. As if my subconscious is trying to get a message through to me, I am trying to ignore it but the feeling is constantly there and I can't help but be hyper aware of everything around me. Glancing over my shoulder every other minute to see if anything new has happened or if anything suspicious is there. I know it is pointless and I know that nothing will happen but I can't stop myself.

I need to cool down. I am getting progressively more nervous the longer that I stay still so I excuse myself from the table and quickly go to the toilets. Hurriedly, I make my way to the bathrooms. I can hear a few girls giggling on the other side of the door so I push it open forcefully and glare at them. They jump up and squeal in surprise, the girls are probably freshman but I can't find it in myself to care.

"Out." I order them. They scatter out and I smirk proudly to myself. In the mirror my reflection looks pale, almost a ghostly colour. I shake it off and throw some water over my face in an attempt to calm my nerves down. It doesn't work. Growling, I walk back into the gym towards the table and sink into my chair.

It's only then that I realise Jon and Jace are missing. I could look for them, or I could play on my phone. Playing on phone it is. I start playing Candy Crush (Don't sue me, it is obnoxiously addictive) and play that for ages. It is only when Izzy comes up and flicks my ear that I stop playing. I roll my eyes but comply and put my phone back in the small clutch bag that Izzy made me bring. When I look up at the clock I realise that Jace and Jon are still missing. I sigh and scan the room for them.

In the corner of the gym, I see a head of golden blonde and ivory hair talking quietly. I roll my eyes and make my way over to them.

"Jon!" I shout when I am a few metres away.

"Yeah?" A voice from beside me says. I turn to my left and see Jon standing there with a lopsided grin. If Jon is here then who is…

"JACE!" I scream running towards him. The music cuts off and everybody is staring at me. The white blonde haired man turns around and I stop dead in my tracks. There stands my father in a black suit, a malice smirk on his face and an evil twinkle in his eyes. Valentine is holding a knife to Jace's throat, silently daring me to take another step. I stay frozen. Hurt me all you like but I will not let anybody else take a hit. Figuratively or literally.

"Clarissa," Valentine drawls. "Did you miss your father?"

_Holy shit on a plate._


End file.
